The Five Recruits
by letsimagine42
Summary: When Danny is out of the picture for a while, Rusty uses his resources to get together five teenagers that would help him on a heist in a casino. There is a particular outcast that makes Rusty and Linus wonder who she is and what makes her tick.
1. Chapter 1

The Five Recruits

Disclaimer: I do not own _Ocean's 11-13_. Those who do own it: you lucky, lucky people.

Summary: While Danny Ocean is out of the picture for a while, Rusty looks up five teenagers that could get into an exclusive casino owner's daughter's mind. Linus helps solve the mystery of the outcast kid, who is great at tracking and surveillance, like Linus is. In Rusty's, Linus's and the outcast's POV

Warnings: Some violence, but that's just about it.

* * *

I guess after the heist on the Bellagio, everything kinda slowed down. We, the Eleven, went our separate ways. I picked up Danny at the prison and he met up with Tess again. And since they were getting back together, I was left in the gutter (not really, I was doing pretty well) and out on my own. 

It felt weird not having someone to plan with. Trust me; it was always slightly better when you knew that someone was in this with you. It was like it wasn't just you and you wouldn't be the only one going to jail if you got caught. It wasn't like I went to jail before, though, because Danny and I were such masterminds that we didn't get caught.

Then again, when you look at Danny, of course he had to get caught. I was the accessory; one that should've went with him. But I wasn't the only one. There were still eleven of us left, you know, and they couldn't catch all of us. That was reassuring, in a way, and since Danny was the head honcho, he was the one who went on parole and got out that jail and then went with Tess.

My day wasn't going that well.

"Saul, I'm bored." I sat on the bench outside the races with my old friend, Saul, who was also in on the Bellagio heist. I took a bite of the coleslaw I had in front of me.

"What are you? A toddler? Get it together, Rusty." Saul looked at me with a weird expression on his face. "Danny's on his honeymoon. Yes, of course you're bored. Do something about it!"

I raised an eyebrow. "Something, Saul? You mean like plan heists by myself?"

Saul looked incredulous. "What do you think? Do what you want. You're the one with a share of one hundred and sixty million dollars. Now," he said, getting up, "the fifth race is coming up and I got a hot tip in that one. If you'll excuse me…." He walked away.

I pondered what he said. He thought I should start some heists of my own. Sounded like a good idea, but really…planning without Danny? I wasn't one for friends, but Danny was my friend in way. But not a friend in your eyes, however. In my eyes, Danny was the kind of friend that would plan incredibly complex heist plans and get you out of trouble if need be. A partner, not a friend.

Pardon the mistake.

So, I was off to the drawing board, figuring out what I could do with a hefty share of one hundred and sixty million dollars (thank you, Mr. Benedict) and the casinos on the Vegas strip. We might not go there this time, though. Too big without a partner, you know? So, I decided maybe something smaller, like the Diamond on the Atlantic City boardwalk or the Moon Flower. Something that was well known but not huge. Something that was popular, but easily forgotten on the next vacation plan.

I had it.

The Oasis in New York City.

It was about ten blocks away from where the owner's daughter went to school – oh boy, I was going to have fun with this one.

All I needed was a teenager, or teenagers that could go to that school, get into the daughter's mind, get a tour…wonderful. I'm brilliant.

I picked up the phone and called someone that would be helpful on this particular job.

"Linus? Yeah, it's Rusty. Fly to New York City and help me out for a while. Yeah, it's another job…."

So he showed up eventually, and we began planning. Slowly planning, because we wanted the jazz about the last heist to simmer down a bit. They were still chatting about it in the newspapers, the articles getting smaller and smaller and lesser and lesser important. Eventually, they disappeared completely, and it was back to whole "boyfriend murdering girlfriend and kid" thing.

Linus and I went through phone books and parks and high schools, looking for the right kids. We saw thousands of candidates, with all the same cliques that were there when I went to school. The jocks, the preppies, the cheerleaders, the nerds, the wimps, the Goths. Yes. They were all there, and still annoyingly obnoxious and bullying.

We went to private schools and public schools, each time saying that we were looking for potential candidates for our "college." Eventually, after a few weeks, we found them.

Leah Thomas, good with blowing things up and smooth talker.

Adam Parkinson, male cheerleader. Flexible for one thing. _Very_ flexible.

Madison George, popular girl with the looks and genius for clothes/makeup. Would fly by with owner's daughter.

Paul DiCarlo, mobster's son and mobster in training. Good with deals and looks. Wouldn't be surprised if he would be "the item" of the owner's daughter's school.

Linus found the last one. He'd been flipping through the phonebook while I was having a late dinner (it had to be at least one o'clock in the morning) and he spied a phone number and address for an orphanage asylum on Fifth Avenue. Funny, why would it be there? We were about to find out.

Her name was Lily, I think. Yeah, Lily Carson. We asked some questions about her and from what Mrs. Friedrish said, (reminds me a lot about fried rice…maybe I should stay away from the food for a while) she likes to harass the other girls by tailing them through the streets to and from school sometimes.

I sent a meaningful glance Linus's way. He seemed a bit surprised, but his expression cleared up and he nodded at her and glanced at me. We nodded in chorus.

"We'd like to talk with her. She's in high school, right?" I said.

Mrs. Friedrish nodded (thinking of that fried rice again).

"We're thinking of recruiting her for our college," supplied Linus. He was a quiet kid, but helpful at times.

"I don't mean to rain on your parade, Mr.'s Ryan and Caldwell," she said (she must annoy those orphans so much with those expressions) "but Lily's grades have been very poor this last term. Her teachers are considering holding her back another year before considering colleges."

Oh. Well that definitely shot a hole in our plan.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Once again, I do not own _Ocean's 11-13_. Who did you think I was? Warner Brothers?

Chapter Summary: Lily puts up with constant teasing from a clique in her school, and she meets Linus and Rusty with some apprehension.

Warnings: One cussword. That's it.

"Lily, if you paid attention in class, you would know what you're doing." My math teacher looked up at me and pointed to my latest failing grade. "If you have another failing grade, you're going to have to repeat the year. You don't want that, do you?"

Of course I didn't want that. Nobody wanted to be held back another year, especially when you were going to become a senior. But lately things have been going extremely downhill for me, but that didn't give me an excuse not to pay attention to Mr. Shore at all, since I was in a high algebra class.

"Sorry, Mr. Riley, but things have been…"

"Going downhill? I've gotten that story before. I understand with your case, though, because of your…parents." He looked down at his hands and fiddled with his pen a bit. "But Lily, get your grades up and we won't have to worry about holding you back. You're smart. You've gotten excellent grades in English and physical education, so why not math?"

I nodded and took my test from him and turned to go. Mrs. Friedrish wouldn't be entirely happy with this grade, since she was the one to sign it. But I hadn't studied the night before because things have been bothering me. I went to the guidance counselor twice a week, but it hasn't been helping.

"Oh, and Lily?"

I turned around.

"Don't blow off Mrs. Johannes again, please?"

I grinned a little and nodded. "Will do, Mr. Riley." I walked out of the classroom, ignoring the gaze of the rest of the students behind me. They liked to tease me about my failing grades and how I'm an orphan and all, "tease" making it sound light.

Speaking of teasing, Madison George, Queen Bee and leader of the Populars was leaning against the lockers next to mine, a smirk on her face. Madison was and still is the leader of the pack of girls that figured that anybody without money in the six digits were worthless and nothing but scum. They threw up their food, wore only the latest fashion and basically failed all their classes. But they passed, unlike me, because of their parent's dough.

"Well, well, well, girls, if it isn't FedEx coming from her daily meeting with our math teacher." She smirked at her friends and turned back to me. "Did you fail again, Carson? Did Mr. Riley tell you that you won't be joining the rest of the junior year in June? C'mon, FedEx, you can talk to us."

I ignored them and put my books away. I folded the math test and stuffed it into my bag, then checked my schedule to see what homework I blow off that night. I shut my locker door and then turned my back on them, hearing them jeer at what brand of jeans I was wearing.

"Girls, let's be grateful we can afford good jeans. Unlike _some_ of the students here, our jeans are prepared exactly for us."

More laughter.

I got out of there as fast as I could. I couldn't stand the way they treated us. Well, I mean the kids who came from the poorer parts of the city. It wasn't our fault that things were expensive for us and we couldn't afford designer jeans. We bought in bulk and in the cheapest fashion we could. It saved money for treats, like ice cream and cake.

I walked down the street, carefully avoiding those little packages that dog owners tend to "forget" are there. I thought about my parents and the guidance counselor and the other girls at the orphanage. I thought about how Mr. Riley actually cared about my grades, being that I didn't give him a hunk of money just to pass me. I thought a lot, really. I meditated while moving.

I got the orphanage in record time. I was walking fast, half to get out of the wind and half just to get home – and I'd arrived quickly. There was a strange car in the front of the orphanage – it looked like it'd been through World War II. Not that I could say anything, because I had my permit and no car – but it was just a hunk of metal. Ha, wonder which kid's going out to these parents.

I crashed through the door on a ride of blustery wind. Sighing, I shut the door and brushed the leaves from the creases of my hooded sweatshirt. "Mrs. Friedrish, I'm back!" I yelled, my voice careening off the walls.

"Lily! Didn't you ever learn that yelling is for outside and not here?" One of the other housemothers reprimanded me from where she was folding some of the younger girls' laundry. She was plump and normally friendly, but at the moment I was just getting kicked from all sides. "There are some visitors here and we want to make the best impression."

I said I was sorry and went up to my room, which I shared with the other three older girls. They weren't back from school yet (they were probably getting pizza or something with their guy-friends) so I had the room to myself. I flung my backpack onto my bed and heard it creak in protest. I flopped down as well, only to be sent shooting up by some claws in my back.

"Lucky!" I cried, looking down at the black and white cat that I'd nearly crushed. "Sorry, kitty."

The cat meowed in a tone that sounded a lot like Meghan's, the whiny, sarcastic "yeah, sure you're sorry" kind of thing.

I sighed and went to the door, peeking out. The little girls, everyone from five to nine and ten to fourteen were already in their rooms, home from school and doing their homework/blowing it off and listening to loud rap music.

"Lily? Lily, are you home?" It was Mrs. Friedrish.

"Yeah, I'm home," I called, coming out of my room and coming to the foot of the stairs. "I've been home for ten minutes now. Mickey said that there were –"

I stopped at the bottom step, looking from the two strange guys to Mrs. Friedrish and back again. If I were someone else, I would've been all like "hello, how are you?" But I wasn't someone else. I was me and I immediately felt suspicious. I'd seen these guys before. Don't know their names, but they've been walking around the school for a while. They talked to Mr. Riley and the rest of my teachers.

"Lily, these gentlemen have wanted to recruit you for their college," said Mrs. Friedrish, breaking the uneasy silence. "This is Mr. Rusty Ryan and his colleague, Mr. Linus Caldwell."

"Afternoon," I said, trying to sound polite but not suspicious. The first guy, the blondie, was obviously the boss of the second guy, the guy who looked shy. He was probably a quiet guy and didn't say much. But the first one – he was arrogant and thought he knew he was doing everything correctly.

I was good at judging people. I know, I know, don't judge a book by its cover, but really. Just the way the blondie _stands_ says that he's an overly-confident jerk.

"Well, Lily, we were just wondering if you'd like to apply to our college. We've looked at your attendance records and your grades," the blondie smirked, "and we'd like you to come to our college."

"But…my grades-"

He cut me off. "Your grades have been good enough to get into our college. We'll give you the application now, and you look it over. You could call us at that phone number," he gestured to the phone number engraved on the envelope, "and we'll answer any questions you have."

"But what happens if I cut out and I _don't_ want to join your college?" I said. I surprised him, judging by his expression. "What happens if I think your college is stupid and careless, just by the way you've overlooked my failing math grade?"

"_Lily_! That's no way to speak to two guests, especially two of whom are offering you a chance to attend their prestigious establishment!" Mrs. Friedrish was shocked at me, but the blondie was just smirking away and seemed proud of himself for something.

"No, no, Mrs. Friedrish. It's fine. It's her decision." He turned to go; touching the second guy's shoulder and making him turn around as well. But before he left, he turned back around and looked at me. "But still – call us. We'd still be happy to give you answers about our stupid and careless college."

And with that, he left, taking all of his super-sized ego and his timid friend with him.

Mrs. Friedrish was twittering away at how I've been so rude and disrespectful, and how she could've gone wrong with my upbringing. She was all flustered and red, but I ignored her.

I heard the car outside, probably the old piece of metal shit I saw, and heard them drive away. I was angry, on the brink of chasing them down the street and throwing eggs at their car, but I was curious too. What was in the package I held in my hand? I was certainly going to find out.

"I should have your dinner taken away, I should, I should, but then the cook would get angry with me…" Mrs. Friedrish took her fussing into the hallway, and I was left alone to climb the stairs two at a time and open the packet.

I decided that I should open it then, since the other girls wouldn't be home until curfew (ten o'clock on school nights if you did your homework beforehand, eight thirty if you didn't) and they would probably lie to Mrs. Friedrish when they got inside. Hopefully they wouldn't be rip-roaring drunk, because if they were I would get the "house punishment" as well, since I lived in the same room as they did. It was a rule.

The package was one, thick manila folder. It had a name scrawled across the center, reading "Mount Headway College" and had an address, phone number and fax number underneath the name. It had a clasp at the top, and I opened it and reached in.

There was a brochure depicting an orange building that was undoubtedly the college with a backdrop of mountains behind it. There was a sheet of paper that looked like a letter, but without a letterhead, weird. And there was also…a plane ticket?

I picked up the letter first.

_Dear Lily Carson:_

_If you're reading this letter, I and my colleague have visited your home and have handed the manila package to you. Congratulations, you've decided to embark on your first (and if you decide it, _not_ your last) greatest adventure…._

It went on to explain what the plane ticket was for and that it should be given to whatever flight secretary was behind the counter of Field Airport on October 22nd. When I arrived in Miami, Florida, there would be a limousine waiting for me. I was to accept the limo, and ride to a hotel room near the beach. There I would meet the two men I've been so mean too this morning and the rest would be explained in detail there.

Sounded like a great trip. And it also said "the first and greatest adventure of your life". So, I guess, I wanted to go.

What's life without a little excitement?


	3. Chapter 3 Madison!

Disclaimer: I do not own _Ocean's 11-13_. Do you ever get tired of asking that question?

Summary: Lily heads to Florida to meet up with Rusty, Linus, and the rest of the group. Tensions rise when she realizes that her worst enemy is on the recruiting list as well.

Warnings: No worries.

* * *

On the plane out to Miami, I found out several things about Rusty Ryan. His most noticeable habits include: chewing, thinking, and talking. There were many different variations of these, like chewing/talking (which was completely disgusting but he did it with such skill you kind of ignored it) chewing/thinking and sometimes chewing/talking/thinking. It depended on what mood he was in.

He would be chewing no matter what thing he was doing along with it. The man had an obsession with food. He would eat anything you would put in front of him – steaks, hot dogs, burgers, pasta, squid, old pea and bean casserole – he would eat _anything_. He didn't care if it was three weeks old. He would eat it and not gain a pound.

The airplane food seemed to settle good with him. He ate cookies, shrimp, pudding, the micro waved meal he'd ordered from the menu. His stomach, probably, was like a processing plant.

If I was wrong, he probably spent half his life on the john.

Either way, he still ate.

I sat at the window seat, looking out at the clouds and how they seemed so translucent from up here. Down on the streets, you looked up and saw these big, puffy, marshmallow looking things that looked unreal. Up here, you saw how the clouds looked like mist, like a ghost.

Someone sat next to me and I knew who it was. When he was walking, there was no mistaking that long gait that held up his cocky shoulders. He walked like he was going somewhere with a purpose in mind, with long, heavy steps that took him anywhere in a matter of minutes.

"Morning, Rusty," I said without looking up. "Decided to say hello?"

I could almost picture the smirk on his face. Or maybe he rolled his eyes. Something like that.

"You're good," he said. I heard the rustle of paper and he was unwrapping something, like a Mrs. Fields cookie or something. He started chewing. "You know," he said through a mouthful of food, "our college isn't that bad."

Still with the college conversation? I looked at him finally. "I've joined it, haven't I? If I wasn't on this plane I wouldn't be a part of your university."

"Smart."

I raised an eyebrow, as if saying _no, really?_ "Are there any others?"

"Four others. Adam, Leah, Paul and Madison."

My jaw dropped at the name of Madison. Oh, no. No way. Was she here? On this plane? There was no way I was doing this with Madison George. She was my arch enemy. My Lex Luthor. My Dr. Octopus. My freaking _kryptonite_.

"Madison? As in Madison George?" I said.

"Oh, so you're a mind reader as well as a sarcastic reconnaissance agent?" Rusty remarked.

"You're kidding me. You've actually hired _Madison George_?" I said angrily. I couldn't believe this. He'd gotten the poster child for mean to be one of my fellow agents, and for some weird reason he'd actually picked her. For God's sake, isn't anyone able to see the devil's horns sticking out of her highlighted hair?

"Yes, I did. And for your information, Lily, she'll be able to help you and the rest of the team at what you're going to do." Rusty took another bite of the cookie and chewed thoughtfully.

I thought back to all of the times that Madison had made fun of everything I owned, however little that would be. I had the old iPod and she laughed in my face with her new iPod Video waving in my face. I wore old, beat up Levi jeans that had been through summer jobs, and she'd flaunted with her new slim-cut Desire jeans. I wore the same high tops I'd worn three months ago and she told me I was in violation of the Hallway Fashion Police.

Yes, immature. But it still hurt my pride.

"Leah's nice," said Rusty. "She'll be your friend."

"But Madison George? Are you kidding me?" I said.

Rusty shrugged. "She'll help."

[ruler

The hotel rose off the ground like the skyscrapers in New York. Towering over the beaches and the other hotels, this one looked exclusive and better than the rest. It was made of yellow, synthetic looking brick with an awning reaching out to two potted trees and a cobblestone driveway. The awning had the hotel's number on it, bookend lions on either side.

The limo pulled up and I got out, followed by Rusty and the kid named Linus. I had no idea why they picked me to hitch a ride with, but they did, and we walked into the hotel together, handing our luggage to the bellboy.

It wasn't a great entrance. People were milling around, reading magazines, talking on their cell phones. One guy was having a heated conversation with another guy, and this woman behind the desk was just about ready to call security.

But what caught my attention was her – Madison George, complete in her latest designer buy: Desire jeans that were low cut and tight, a graphic t shirt that was just as tight as her jeans and makeup and oversized aviator sunglasses. Her highlights were blond, just as always, because her mouse brown hair couldn't stand to be alone.

She was standing almost in the same way that Rusty stood. She had an air of self-confidence, knowing that every eye was probably on her or should be on her. She jutted out her hip and had that full-lipped pout that she'd mastered just as the stars had. She looked bored, just like in school.

There were others, too. There was a red-headed girl that was chatting amiably to a guy that looked like he belonged in a glee club. Oh, that must be that male cheerleader that Rusty'd mentioned. There was another guy, too. That was Paul, probably. He had thick, black curls and blacker than black eyes that looked stormy and disturbed. He was a gangster's son, I guess.

"Hello, Mae." Rusty was busy romancing the woman behind the desk. "I have seven rooms under my name. Do you mind if I take those keys?"

The woman giggled and took the seven key cards from under the desk and slid them over to Rusty.

Rusty nodded his thank you and turned to the group of kids that I hadn't joined.

I went behind him and silently slid one of the key cards from under his fingertips.

He didn't even notice.

I examined it. "I call this room!" I said, waving the key card a little. "Anybody who has a problem with that will answer to me personally. In this room."

Rusty turned. "Nice," he said, regarding the little pick-pocketing I did.

Madison George smirked. "Like she's good for anything," she muttered.

The guy named Paul laughed.

I moved off to the side a bit, keeping myself separated from the group. I wasn't in the mood for group work at the moment, and that was probably why I was avoiding everyone else.

Rusty looked slightly annoyed. "Everyone pick the rooms that are left," he said, holding out the cards like they were playing cards in Las Vegas. "We'll be staying down here for a little while, waiting for summer to end, and then we'll head back up to New York. Like a vacation."

Everyone took the key cards and waited for other instructions.

"Okay." Rusty thought for a minute. "Linus and I will meet you down here in the hotel's restaurant at six sharp. If you're late, you won't get a seat. Dress in your professional best and be down here."

With that we were thrust into this new adventure and sent up to our rooms.

I got into an elevator and the red-haired girl came in as well. She grinned at me, but it quickly disappeared when Madison came.

"Okay, geeks, out," she said, jabbing her thumb at the space behind her.

"No," I said. I saw Adam come up behind Madison and look at us. "Hey, Adam, c'mere. Wanna ride up?"

He nodded, and joined us in the elevator.

"Thanks for holding door, Madison," I said, watching her scowl, "but we've best be off." Smiling at her, I closed the door and she had to snatch her arm away to keep it from getting stuck.

On the way up, we couldn't help but laugh.

Adam Parkinson was a male cheerleader and could do anything you asked him too, even turn himself into a pretzel. He said it didn't hurt him, but I secretly thought it did. Just a little.

Leah was nice. She was bubbly and liked to talk, and she could persuade anyone to do anything. She also liked chemistry, but not the lovey-dovey kind. It was more of the "it went boom" kind of chemistry. She had a whole set of things in her bag that could the entire hotel explode or just cause an outlet to stop working. She liked working with her hands and when she couldn't blow up something, she was constantly on a Game Boy or knitting.

The rooms were wonderful. And that's something coming from a kid who was used to rickety bunk beds and cats who liked to maul you when you were sleeping. The beds had like, five comforters and three pillows, and my room…I loved it. It was great.

* * *

A/N: I'm sorry, guys. This chapter stinks, but I wanted to get it up. I promise you that updates will be getting out faster! Thanks, and keep reviewing! 


	4. A Prank, A Meeting, Potiential Catfight

Disclaimer: I do not own Ocean's 11-13. When I rule the world, I will. Oh, and I don't own Pepsi, either. The corporation, I mean. I do own a bottle of it, though.

Summary: Lily gets to know her friends, actually gets Linus to talk to her, and plays a prank on Madison.

A/N: I am _so sorry!!!_ I didn't mean to not continue! I'm so, so, so, so, so sorry!!!

When you're playing video games for your lunch money, things kind of get fast-paced, and, well, a little hyper.

"Yes!" shouted Adam as he once again annihilated my character. "That's fifty more cents out of your pocket, Carson!"

I made a face and started the game again. "Yeah, yeah," I muttered, and began throwing little blue fire balls at Adam's character. "Oh!" I gloated when his character burst into a cloud of purple smoke. "Who's laughing now?"

Adam scowled and chucked a pillow at me. "The last laugh's always mine," he said. "Start up the game."

"I can't believe you're playing video games for money," said Leah. She was balancing sodas and her room key all on one hand, and then she dropped everything unceremoniously on the table. "Isn't that a little childish?"

Adam and I looked at her and shook our heads. "No," we said in unison.

She rolled her eyes and sat down next to me, at the foot of Adam's bed.

I started up the game again and I made my player tackle Adam's and they started wrestling. When his player poked mine in the eyes, I looked at him incredulously. "You did not put your character on dirty, did you?" I said, narrowing my eyes.

He shook his head. I knew he was lying.

"Liar!" I exclaimed, punching him on the arm.

"Ow," he drawled, and then launched his player off of mine and catapulted to the capsule, the thing we were supposed to get in order to win the game.

"Oh, no you don't!" I said, leaping off the bed and pressing buttons frantically. "Get up, you stupid fluff-ball thing!" I muttered in frustration.

"Game over, Player 2 wins," said the television. Adam's player was jumping up and down and making faces at mine, who was still lying on the floor whimpering pathetically.

"Your total comes up to about three dollars, Miss Carson," said Adam in a snooty cashier's voice.

"If you weren't my friend I would personally make sure you never saw my three dollars," I scowled at him as I handed him the money. "Rusty'll kick our asses if he finds out about the gambling."

"At least we're not gambling shower tokens," muttered Leah from where she was examining her many tubes and bottles full of exploding stuff. "That would be gross."

"Gambling?" said Adam. "Who's gambling? What gambling?" He was putting on the dumb act.

"That's nice," mumbled Leah.

"What?" I asked.

"Adam's the worst liar in the world," she said. "He told me so yesterday."

"I am not!" he said.

I looked at his face, and his nostrils were flaring. "You flare your nostrils when you're lying," I said. "You need a poker face, and you've got nothing."

He looked angry for a second, and Leah and I burst out laughing.

A knock at the door made us shut up and we turned to see Rusty in the doorway. "I see everyone's having a good time." He looked us over. "There's a meeting at six."

"What meeting?" said Adam almost immediately.

"A meeting about what we're doing in New York, dummy," I said, punching him again.

"In the restaurant, okay?" Rusty didn't wait for any replies and disappeared.

I exchanged glances with Leah. "I feel like a freakin' secret agent," I said. "Top secret meeting, double-oh seven, in the restaurant. Be there or die a painful death."

"A slow and painful death," added Adam.

"You guys have the bloodiest imaginations I've ever seen."

"You haven't actually seen them, Leah," said Adam. "You've heard us use them, but you've never actually _seen_ them."

"Is he always this technical?" I said, jerking my thumb at him.

"Not usually," he said, cutting off Leah. "But today I feel strange."

"Uh-oh," said Leah. "It must be the water."

"No! It's kryptonite!" he cried, clutching his throat.

"If you think you're funny, geek, you'd better check again," said a snooty voice from the door.

"Madison? Why are you here?" I said. I couldn't help but at least snap at her.

"To make sure that you're not doing anything that could ruin my image," she said. "I have a reputation to hold up, Carson, and I'm not going to let you ruin it."

"What, a reputation for sleeping with every junior boy?" I said.

She looked dumbstruck. "How the _hell_ did you know about that?"

"I didn't," I said through laughter. "But now I do!"

We collapsed into laughter, all three of us, and she looked at me with evil in her eyes. She slapped her hand against the doorframe and left, stalking down the hallway.

"Lily, you think up things fast!" exclaimed Leah. She tossed me the Pepsi that I hadn't opened yet.

I opened it and took a sip, nearly choking on it. "But still," I said. "I really didn't know about that."

"It's your telepathic powers at work," said Adam.

"You really think you're hilarious, don't you?" said Leah. She poured some purple goop into a test tube and counted five seconds out on her fingers. On the fifth second, green smoke emitted from the tube and set us all to coughing.

"Explain…why…you…did that!" I said, interrupted several times by coughing.

"I wanted to see what would happen," she said smoothly. "These are key components in the explosive we're going to need for later."

I glanced at the clock on Adam's bedside table. "It's five o'clock. We have time to kill. What do you want to do?"

Leah shrugged and continued fiddling with the explosives.

Adam thought for a minute. "Want to…set up a prank on Madison?" he suggested, thinking it would be funny.

I nodded. "Let's do it. Leah, you're gonna have to help us."

She looked up and looked at me indignantly. "Do I have to?" she said. "I won't get mixed up in Rusty's temper."

"Rusty has no temper," replied Adam. "He'll either not notice it or just give a small grounding."

"Grounding? He's not our dad, Adam."

"Well, he should be. How long are we gonna be hanging around here?" he said.

Man, logic hurt.

"I have no dad, so it doesn't matter," I said.

"You don't?" Adam looked sorry. "Sorry, Lily."

"That's fine. I'm used to it, anyway." I grinned to make him feel better. "Now, about this prank…you have any ideas?"

* * *

"You are a total mastermind," I said.

Adam had set up the room so that when Madison walked in, a bucket of water would fall on her head. When she walked in, piping mad and soaked to the bone, she would step over a string. This string would trip her and land her face first in a cream pie I'd just happened to snatch from the kitchen while nobody was looking. After she got up, probably to go into the bathroom to wash the pie off, the bathroom would door would swing shut and show her a picture of the one thing she was scared of – her boyfriend, who she cheated on in sophomore year.

If that didn't issue chaos, I had no idea what would.

"I could kiss you!" I said. "But I won't." I grinned at him, and we walked down the hallway.

"Oh, crap," he muttered, checking his watch. "It's five forty-five!"

We started running down the hallway, much to the passerby's dislike. We ducked around the corner, nearly overturned a maid's cart, and then rammed into Leah.

"Where you running, Forrest?" she asked incredulously as we ducked into each other's rooms.

"Dinner at six, remember?" I called out to her as I plowed through my clothes to get to something at least presentable.

"Oh, right!" she said. "You guys were to busy being immature."

"I always say, be a kid as long as you can," I said, diving into the bathroom.

* * *

We all sat at the table – me on Rusty's left, Adam on his right, Leah next to me, Linus next to her. Madison sat next to Adam and Paul next to Madison. It was the way we sat on that first night, and Madison had spat at me after that I was the "favorite" because I got to sit next to Rusty.

But she was just jealous. Right?

"Now," said Rusty, keeping his voice a tad lower than usual. "We all know what we're doing in New York. We'll be picking transportation routes, all different so that we won't be connected to each other. You're all going to the same high school and not be associated with each other unless you're _assigned_ to be associated with each other." Meaningful glances were shot Madison, Paul, Leah and my ways.

"So does that mean we can't talk in the hallway?" Paul startled us for a minute and we all turned to stare at him. It was the longest sentence I ever heard him say.

"If you're not assigned to that person, then no," replied Rusty.

"Anyway," he continued, "same high school, different means of transportation…"

Madison raised her hand and startled almost the entire restaurant and the waiters.

Rusty rolled his eyes, though Madison didn't seem to notice, and said, "_Yes_, Madison?"

"Um, well, I was wondering…could I be assigned with Leah?"

"_What?_" exclaimed Leah and I in unison.

"Well, yeah. I want to make a fresh start and I thought hanging out with a science freak like her would make me change."

"Leah can't change that black hole you call a heart," I muttered into my Pepsi. (If you haven't noticed, I'm sort of a Pepsi junkie. I drink it every time I can.)

"Excuse me?" said Madison.

"Girls, let's not get into a catfight," said Rusty half-heartedly. "The food's here."

We dug in, sending glances over to each other (meaning me and Madison) whenever we thought the other one wasn't looking. They were hateful glances, mind you.

I finished my alfredo and glared at Madison.

"If you girls don't mind," said Rusty. "I suggest that you head upstairs."

"That's perfectly fine with me." I mouthed goodnights to Adam and Leah, and they mouthed back that they'd be up to talk in my room in a while.

Madison got up, too, and stalked off to the elevators.

"I'm taking this one," I said, slipping past her and into the elevator.

"Fine."

I rode up.

I slipped into my room and changed into baggy pajamas. They weren't fancy – just a huge t-shirt and some baggy pants. I flopped on my bed, snatched up my latest novel, and waited.

Suddenly, I heard a scream two doors down. Not remembering that Adam had set up the prank, I jogged into the hallway and saw what I thought was a monster – but it was just Madison positively covered in coconut cream pie.

I dived back into my room and locked it – I really didn't want to get mashed up before New York.

When she disappeared, I cracked up laughing. I wished I could've taken a picture.

Minutes later, there came a knock at the door.

"Lily Carson?" said a deep, scary voice that jolted me back to my horror-flick obsession. "This is the police. Open up."

What the hell?

* * *

A/N: Again, really, really, really sorry for the hold-up. I have another story out there and I was busy getting that up on the boards, and I was having trouble getting back to this one. I promise you that I will have more chapters up sooner. Thank you again for still being faithful to this story! It's really appreciated.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Ocean's 11-13. It's sad, isn't it?

Summary: Training begins for our little gang. Linus and Lily establish a friendship and an old friend comes to visit.

A/N: Please, by all means, review. There's nothing stopping you. Oh, and I'm sorry about not getting Linus to talk. I kinda forgot about it, him being a slightly silent character in this fic. I'll fix that, though!

_"Lily Carson?" said a deep, scary voice that jolted me back to the days of my horror-flick obsession. "This is the police. Open up."_

_What the hell?_

I cautiously opened the door, wondering what I did. I didn't slash anyone's tires or anything…not that I remember, anyway. Actually, the only time I ever slashed someone's tires was on a dare from Meghan. I got severe ass-kicking from the housemothers that night.

When I opened it, I looked straight into the face of the Amazing Man with No Voice, Linus Caldwell.

He grinned a little. "You're pale," he said.

"No freakin' _duh_." I scowled, and leaned against the doorframe. "Did Adam send you up to scare me?"

"No, actually," he said, scratching the back of his neck, "it was Madison. She came down covered in cream. I guess from that coconut cream pie that was on the counter in the kitchen this afternoon? The cooks were scrambling around to make another one – they were close to peeing their pants."

I laughed a little at the cream pie thing, but then it came crashing down when I realized something. "How'd you know about that cream pie?" I asked incredulously. "You can't be in two places at once."

"That's what I'm here for," he said, shrugging. "Being in two places at once is actually a cool skill. Can you do it?"

"Yeah, I guess," I said. "That's what _I'm_ here for, anyway."

I heard the elevator coming up and we both turned to look.

Adam appeared, as well as Leah and the rest of them. Madison had cleaned up some. Rusty looked extremely tired of this thing, and he pushed Leah and Adam ahead of him gently.

"I hope all of you understand that if you continue to fight, we're going to have to send you back home," said Rusty, trying to be stern. "I want to treat you like adults and partners and not students and kids. Please stop. You're being immature."

"Immature?" cried Madison. "That little – right there ruined my favorite shirt. It's a crime!"

"Ooh, such language, Madison," I said, shaking my head. "Be courteous to the people around you."

"Shut up!" she cried.

Rusty looked annoyed. "Doesn't anyone listen?" he said, half to himself and half to us. "I said stop fighting."

I slipped back into my room and gently closed the door so I didn't snap Linus's hand in the door.

**Next Day**

It was a sullen breakfast. Rusty looked to be in a bad mood and Linus seemed to be bouncing around like an overexcited puppy. Madison was fuming and Leah couldn't do anything about it. Adam looked just as in a bad mood as Rusty was – he didn't talk to me for a few minutes until he got to his senses. Paul was just as surly and mean-looking as ever. Did he ever have a smile on his face?

"I'm expecting quiet this morning," said Rusty at the breakfast table. "I should have you eat in your rooms…."

"Just because he's in a bad mood doesn't mean it's your fault," I said to Adam. He acknowledged me with a grunt. "Your welcome."

Madison was calling me every obscene name under the sun when I took my normal seat – next to Rusty – and she received the smuggest glare I could muster. I ignored her further ranting, which was, of course, the further name calling.

Leah elbowed me. "Rusty wants us to start training today," she said. "And after breakfast we're going to choose who our friends are."

"That's nice," I said half-heartedly. I was extremely tired because Madison was practically screaming at Rusty last night and it kept us all up. I hoped with a passion that she would be sent home. It would be a much more peaceful job without her.

"He wants me to blow something up!" she went on cheerfully, bouncing around like a kid on Christmas. She beamed and chewed her eggs Benedict (haha, Benedict) thoughtfully. "What's your job again?"

"Not to be oblivious?" I said, pointing out that she should know.

She waited for me to continue.

"I get to follow the girl in question around. I trip over things, though, and I make a lot of noise." I jerked my head towards Linus. "That's what he's around for."

Realization dawned on her face and she nodded.

"We're choosing friends and transportation today," announced Rusty. He set down his napkin and looked at all of us. Content with the way we looked (which was kind of ragtag, because he woke us all up at six for no apparent reason). "And we're starting training."

"Training?" Madison seemed incredulous. "You mean we have to _work_?"

"Oh! That reminds me." He grinned at us like a mad scientist. "You're all getting after-school jobs."

Madison's eyeballs nearly dropped out of her head she was so shocked. She looked around the table like we were aliens and had three heads. "After-school jobs?" she repeated, like it was a new word. "Are you kidding me?"

"If you're going to work with us, you need to pull your own weight." Rusty pushed back his chair a little bit and looked down at the stack of pancakes that reached his chin. "You guys all have after-school jobs and you all have your original jobs."

"Wait a minute." The cogs in Leah's head were working hard. "The school we're going too, doesn't that have an entrance exam?"

"Oh, yes." Rusty leaned forward and said, "They've been fixed to ensure that all of you get in, no matter how bad your grades are." A glance was shot my way. "You're all in."

"Fixed exams," said Adam. "Impressive."

"Everything we do is impressive," said Rusty.

"We?"

"Oh. My partner and I. He isn't here, though."

"Danny Ocean," I said.

"How the hell did you know that?" Rusty turned to me with disbelief etched all over his smug face.

"I do background checks on people I don't trust fully," I said, as if they should know that already.

"Background checks," I heard Linus mutter. "Nice."

"'Don't trust fully'?" repeated Rusty. "I thought you did trust us."

"You never can be sure."

Linus laughed a little and we all started chuckling, except for Madison. She has no sense of humor, the poor darling.

When we were all done with our breakfast, Rusty brought us to the lounge, which was empty. He seated us at a round table that was used for poker and took out five cards.

"Each of these cards is different means of transportation," he said, waving them around a little.

I caught a glimpse of 'bus' and 'cab', but nothing more than that.

"You'll each have a different one." He spread them out on the table and asked Leah to pick one, any one.

She picked one, looked at it, and then put it back on the table facedown.

"Lily," said Rusty.

I took one and looked at it. It was bus. Not like I wasn't used to it. I put it facedown on the table and hoped my face didn't look crestfallen.

Adam picked then Paul, and then Madison. Each of them put their cards facedown on the table.

Rusty didn't want us to say it out loud because there could be teasing and possibly some catfight. He said, "Now it's time to pick the friends."

Leah picked first again and by the look on her face she got either me or Adam.

I picked and looked at it. With a rising feeling in my stomach, I got Adam.

Adam picked then Paul, and then Madison. Madison looked mad and she glared at Leah, maybe upset that she didn't get Paul. Adam looked okay, and Paul's expression didn't change at all.

"Okay, now that's out of the way, we can start training."

We looked up at him like kids at Christmas time.

"Adam, we've got the Amazing Yen here to teach you some gymnastics. He's in the gymnasium. Just as a warning," he called to Adam's retreating back, "he doesn't understand a lot of English. Ask him to show you!"

When Adam disappeared, he turned to Leah. "Leah, Basher's here to help you out on some of the explosives."

She beamed and moved off, and I could've sworn she was skipping down the hallway when Rusty turned back around.

"Paul, you're headed with Madison down…where are they going?" He turned to Linus.

"I think they're going to that make-up artist from that movie…Was it Mr. and Mrs. Smith?" Linus looked confused.

"No, I think it was Good Will Hunting…"

"No way. She's from Sinbad."

"Sinbad was animated, stupid."

"Oh. What about…" Linus snapped his fingers a couple of times. "Bourne Supremacy?"

"Whatever. She's from one of those movies, and she's gonna help you with your faces and stuff."

They walked off.

Rusty turned to me. "You're working with Linus."

"She is? I thought you got –"

Rusty silenced him and turned back to me. "You're working with Linus outside. Pick a random person, any person, and follow him for a day. You guys have something special." He pulled out two silver things that were like Mike & Ikes but smaller. "These are two-way radios so that you can talk to each other, get advice, etc, etc."

"I got it!" said Linus suddenly. "She was the make-up artist from The Assassination of Jesse James! She died Brad Pitt's hair brown, didn't she?"

Rusty rolled his eyes and gave me the two ear-bud things. "Just do what I asked you."

Linus and I walked outside. The thick summer air was like walking into a brick wall after the air conditioning. Not complaining, we put the ear buds in.

"Can you hear me?" said Linus as he walked off.

"Unfortunately, yes," I said.

"Pick a person, any person."

"How about that guy right there?" I said. The guy had a pot belly and bright orange Hawaiian shirt on. He was white-haired and was chomping on a cigar, dragging his bags along behind him.

I heard Linus chuckling and then I heard him say, "Go ahead."

I positioned myself at a magazine rack, looking through the latest _Go Girl!_ I threw glances over my shoulder and saw the man move to a park bench, exactly where I could see him. He took out a light for his cigar and then blue smoke swirled above his head.

"Pay attention!" snapped Linus. "He's walking towards the entrance."

I turned my back to the man so that I appeared as if I was just a tourist, and he walked straight into the hotel with the cigar.

"Can he do that?" I said as I slipped through the still-closing door. "Smoke in the lobby?"

"Doubt it," said Linus. He was walking towards the lobby, too, but stopped outside the door and picked up an abandoned newspaper. He opened it and I could hear the rustle of paper.

The orange-shirted Hawaiian dude was talking to the secretary, who looked daunted by the cigar and the height of this man.

"Sir," she was saying. "You can't smoke in the lobby."

"I can't?" he said. "Of course, I'm sorry." He took out a hanky, spit into it, and then rolled up the cigar. "What room am I in again?"

"Room 312," the woman said, and handed him his key card.

"Follow him," said Linus. He was always one step behind me, because I was making me way slowly to the elevator bank and he slipped into the lobby to take my place. "And keep me posted on what he's doing."

I rode up in the elevator next to his and waited as the doors opened. He didn't walk past my elevator, so I walked out and saw him already halfway down the hall. Room 312 was down the other way, behind me, and not down this way. Curious, I followed him.

"He's going the wrong way," I said to Linus, who was three floors below. There was some static now that we weren't so close. "He's headed down the wrong end of the hallway."

He didn't say anything.

"Linus, I can't hear you nod your head," I whispered. The dead silence of the hallway was crushing me. I wanted to talk at my normal volume or not talk at all – but Linus was being annoying and wanted me to talk to him.

"Sorry," he said.

I saw the Hawaiian man's orange shirttail flash up some stairs leading to the higher level of the third floor, where the pool was. I waited until his footsteps had faded and then I leapt up the stairs, two at a time. I saw him stop at a janitor's closet and look it up and down curiously. Brow furrowed, I padded silently over to the door of the pool, watching him out of the corner of my eye.

He opened the janitor's closet and slipped in, bag and all.

"Linus, he went into the janitor's closet near the pool," I said. The static was heavier. "Can you hear me?"

Snatches of his words could be heard. Suddenly, the static cleared. "I'm on the third floor," he said.

"I don't need help," I said.

"Yeah, you do," he said. He came up the stairs and took out the ear bud for the time being.

"What do you think he's doing?" I asked.

"It doesn't matter, really." Linus thought for a second. "Could be one of Terry Benedict's spies."

"Wait. Why is a girl sending spies after you?"

Linus looked back at me and doubled up in peals of laughter. Getting over it and wiping a tear from his face, he looked at me with a grin and said, "Terry Benedict _isn't_ a girl. He's a really powerful casino owner."

"Oh." I grinned and Linus went up to the door and knocked.

"Saul? You in there?"

"Linus!" The Hawaiian man emerged with this big smile on his face and the cigar clamped between his teeth. "What is Rusty doing here without Danny?"

Linus, suddenly, looked a little shy right there. "Danny's on his honeymoon and Rusty wants to rob another casino."

"You're kidding! I never thought he would go through with that."

Linus shrugged and said, "He is."

The man named Saul saw me and said, "And who's this lady?"

"That's Lily," said Linus.

"Lily? I'm Saul. Are you Linus's apprentice?"

"Apparently," I said quietly.

"Give her lots of homework so she can trail me a bit better, Linus," said Saul. "I knew I was being followed, that's why I went to the janitor's closet."

On the ride down to the lobby, Linus looked at me a little smugly. "So, being in two places at once is hard, isn't it?"

I glared at him. "I'll do better next time."

"Okay, then."

**Later, Adam's Room**

Leah was looking hard at something while Adam and I played spit on the table.

"Basher said that this was good for throwing out the power," she mumbled.

"Let's just blow it up and see what happens," said Adam.

"Sounds good."

She added something and told us to duck. We all hid, and with a boom, purple smoke emitted from the bottle. The lights flickered off.

"Well done, Leah," I said sarcastically. "You've thrown out the power."

"Hey," her voice said. "You told me to blow it up and see what happened."

"Good point," said Adam.

"Everyone in bed!" yelled Rusty down the hallway.

Adam coughed and seemed to be swearing under his breath. "And I have to sleep in purple smoke?"

Leah made a scoffing noise. "It'll clear up in a few minutes and the power will be back on in about ten," she said.

"But still, it smells like old gym socks…"

"Could that be you?" I said, punching him on the shoulder. "You spent _five hours_ with Yen in that gymnasium."

"You're right. I have to take a shower, and that means both of you out of here."

Leah and I left to get some sleep. We were all exhausted, only to wake up at five thirty tomorrow morning to continue our training. Maybe I'll be a bit better at trailing tomorrow, when stress is lower.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Nope. Don't own it.

Summary: As always, summer fades away and it's back to reality. But before we do that, it's time for some blackmail, some talking and some…well. I want to keep you in the dark this time!

A/N: Mwa hahahahahaha! You're all in the dark about this chapter! Keep reading, though, and please, please review! Oh, read the A/N at the bottom, too, and include the answer in your reviews!

The summer was deepening into August and it was almost time to move back up to New York. Leah got this fantastic tan while she went onto an abandoned beach to do some of her blow-up work (that's what we called it, anyway), Adam once had a pulled muscle and he was practically drooling over the masseuse, Rusty was constantly eating (I once stole his nachos and he got really mad at me) and Linus and I were becoming the fastest friends on the earth.

Our training sessions were becoming shorter and shorter. We would be wherever we were supposed to be for four hours for the first few weeks, and then two hours, and then it dropped to an hour and a half. When it came to the third week of August and we had to charter flights (separate ones, so we wouldn't be connected to each other), pack, and start getting ready for school.

"Okay," said Linus on one of the last days of August. It was considerably chillier out, but not by much, and we were wearing sweatshirts. "I have a job for you." He put a black plastic bag on the table, and I could distinctly hear the clunk of a bottle.

"Is it difficult?" I asked, still looking at the bag.

"Yes." He thought for a minute, but I guess he was just trying to build suspense. "I want you to trail Rusty."

"Rusty?" I said, standing up now. "I can't trail him! He's a criminal mastermind! He'll know if he's being followed."

"Hey," he said, "I followed Danny Ocean around for a while on a first heist. He didn't see me."

"You're a professional," I protested. I bit my lip and thought that if I lost the argument, I was going to have to follow Rusty around Florida.

"When Danny recruited me I was just a kid out of Chicago with my dad's skills," he replied. "Nothing special."

"What if he has a car?" I said.

"He doesn't."

"I…He's a criminal mastermind, he'll –"

Linus reached in the black bag and took out a bottle of Pepsi. "Trail him and you get a bottle of Pepsi."

"Linus," I said, trying to get him off the idea that I, a fifteen year-old junior, could ever trail a twenty-eight year old criminal mastermind.

He reached into the bag and pulled out my biggest weakness: a bag of Swedish fish.

"That's cheating, Linus," I said, staring at the bag. "You can't use somebody's weakness."

"In this business, yes, we can," he said. He threw the bag down on the table alongside the Pepsi. "If you agree to follow Rusty, which you will, you'll get the Swedish fish and the Pepsi."

I thought about it for a while. I mean, come on, it's just a bunch of candy and a soda. But you don't understand. That candy and soda are my weaknesses and I was totally crashing by the look of them. I wanted that candy but I didn't want to follow Robert Charles Ryan (and if you're wondering how I knew his full name, I did some background checks, remember?). He'd catch me and then question me and probably keep me up in my room until moving.

"Fine," I said. "I'll do it."

Linus put the candy and soda back into the back with a smug little smile on his face that all males, not only Rusty, seemed to possess. Well, Linus needed a boost in self-confidence. Rusty has enough to supply the entire universe.

"These'll be up in your room when you get back," he said. "Rusty leaves here at one o'clock."

He walked off, and I could've sworn he was chuckling.

I strode into the courtyard, feeling extremely foolish. Trailing a criminal mastermind around southern Florida wasn't exactly smart, and doing it for a bunch of candy wasn't smart either.

But still. It was practice.

Rusty came out at one o'clock, just as Linus said he would. I saw him walking out in a white trench coat and really big aviator sunglasses. Not knowing him as fashion obsessed, this was different. Maybe he was going under an alias? No, probably not.

He walked out the courtyard gates and towards the boardwalk. Starting off after him, I wondered what he could possibly be doing that Linus wanted to know about. Maybe Rusty was double-crossing us? No way. He wouldn't do that, and he was a thief, so why would he break rule number one?

He stopped now, looking out towards the water. I couldn't see if he was looking down towards my way with those annoyingly big aviators, but I doubted he knew where I was. I'd ducked into an alleyway and was watching him. He shoved his hands into his pockets and continued on, but going slower than he was. He searched the crowds, or it looked like.

I came out from the alleyway and looked out to sea. It was cool-looking, much better than the murky East River. I sighed a little and watched the families with two point four children walk almost carelessly across the sand. I only did that once with my parents and I could barely remember it. What as I? Four?

Rusty had stopped, now, and I came to an abrupt halt. He was talking to a hot dog vendor, and then he came back out with a hot dog.

I rolled my eyes and scowled. Linus was getting me into a job that I didn't want to do. All Rusty was doing was getting stuff to eat, and you can hardly say that that was out of his routine. Besides, what in the world would he be doing except getting food or planning, or sleeping? The guy sticks to a schedule and if he's thrown off, he's incredibly cranky.

"Want a hotdog?"

I whirled around to see Rusty, trench coat and all, standing there eating his hot dog. I'd totally forgotten that I was supposed to be following him and he kind of snuck up on me. I tried to make my face deadpan and looked at him coolly. Or however coolly I could look. Whatever. "Okay, you've caught me."

"Caught you doing what?" He was playing dumb and I could see it. "All I asked you was if you wanted a hotdog."

"You knew I was following you, stupid," I said bitterly.

"Oh, that? Of course I knew you were following me. I'm a high-class thief, remember?" He took another bite of his hotdog and scrutinized me. I hated it when he did that. "Who put you up to it?"

"Linus," I said.

"Why? I thought you were keeping to the people inside the courtyard."

"He sent me after you because…" I thought for a minute and couldn't help but smile when I said, "He's head-over-heels in love with you."

He looked at me hard, trying to sort out the smile and waiting to see if I were about to start laughing or not. He chewed silently for three seconds before saying, "You're kidding."

"Yes, I am."

"Why do that to me?"

"Humor is the best medicine."

"I thought laughter was the best medicine."

"Close enough."

He threw the hotdog wrapper away and then glanced at me. "What did he bribe you with?"

"How'd you know about that?" I said, surprised.

"You only came because he got you with a bribe. I can see it on your face. You didn't want to come in the first place," he said simply. He started walking away.

"Wait!" I yelled and caught up with him. "Where're you going?"

"Now you want to know?" he said, sarcasm lacing his words.

"Yeah," I said quietly. "Sure."

"Going to get something to eat."

"You just had something!" I stubbed my foot on a warped board and I nearly fell. Luckily, Rusty thrust out his hand just in time and he caught me. "Rusty Ryan you're my hero," I said sourly.

"Hold your applause," he said. He grinned a little and stopped. He walked into a diner with no doors, but it was open to the boardwalk.

I had to take after him and he was already sitting by the time I sat down. "Do you want me to head back?" I said.

"Nah," he said. Studying the menu, his face looked so full of concentration I could've sworn he was planning something. But when he found something his stomach appealed too, I guess, he stopped on it and his face relaxed.

He ordered this huge barbecue burger with a large side of fries, a Coke, and coleslaw. He looked at me, half expecting me to order. All I said was, "I'm not that hungry, but thanks anyway."

"I really hate it when you do that," he said.

"What?" I said, really wondering what he hated. I bet he didn't hate it at all – he probably admired it, but since that first day in the orphanage, he was always playing with my thoughts and annoying me.

"I hate it when you refuse to eat something just because someone's offering to pay for you."

"You never said anything like that," I said. Now I was honestly confused. I looked down at my reflection on the fake granite table and fiddled with my hoodie strings.

"Yes, I did," he said. "When you said that you'd go back to the hotel, I said you could stay." He saw the look on my face and said, "'Nah' means 'No, you can stay, and I'll pay for lunch.'"

"Is that Rusty language?" I said, looking up. My conscience was eased a little.

He smirked and said, "Yeah, it is. And Danny knows it."

"I'm not Danny, if you haven't noticed that yet," I commented, smirking a smirk of my own.

"Do you really think I'm that stupid?" he said, thanking the waitress with a smile when she brought him his Coke.

I shook my head. "No, I don't. You're like…big brother stupid."

"Oh, well that really makes me feel better," he said sarcastically, but with a grin all the same.

"It's a compliment coming from me." I looked around the diner and saw some people from the hotel. There was that guy I followed three days ago – and that woman with the two toddlers – and Saul! "Rus, Saul's here."

"Saul's here? And since when do you call me Rus?" He turned around in his seat to find Saul.

Realizing that I did call him Rus, I rolled my eyes at myself (I do that a lot for some reason) and watched Rusty wave the old man over.

"Well, Saul, I didn't know that you were coming down to the Sunshine State," said Rusty.

"Didn't expect the two of you sitting in the same booth," said Saul. "From what Linus tells me the two of you always argue."

We glanced at each other and said at the same time: "Depends."

Saul gestured to Rusty to move over and he slid into the booth.

Now it was two against one.

"You want something to eat?" asked Rusty.

Saul shook his head. "No thank you. I've been eating over there and my waitress is going to wonder where I've got off too."

"You'd better not give her a heart attack," said Rusty. He was fiddling with his napkin.

"I guess you're right. I sat down for nothing." He smiled at me and continued, "Linus has been giving you homework, right?"

I nodded. "Long and tiring homework." One time he made me trail a guy in a taxi and I fell into the mud.

Saul nodded to us in farewell and went back over to his table, where his waitress was standing, looking a tad worried.

"Homework?" said Rusty, scrutinizing me again. "Linus gave you homework?"

"Yes." I looked at my watch.

It was an awkward silence for a while. Rusty got his food and couldn't talk while chewing, anyway, and he seemed to be enjoying that burger. While he chewed, I surveyed the place. It was kind of dingy but still nice, you know, like those small neighborhood diners that never really had enough money to upgrade.

"You sure you're not hungry?" Rusty swallowed the last bite of his burger and winced when a hiccup/burp caused him to jolt back in his chair. Calming down, he stared steadily at me.

"Are you bent on getting me to lighten your wallet a little?" I said.

He thought for a minute, chewing on his tongue. He turned to me and nodded, saying "Yeah."

"I thought so," I said, and counted on my fingers how much a small bowl of coleslaw might be. He probably saw me and he scowled at something and then called the waitress over.

"Yeah?" said the waitress.

"May I have a bowl of coleslaw?" I said. Suddenly I realized I was acting shy around everyone – around Saul, around the waitress, basically everyone that wasn't in our tightly-knit group. My voice faltered a little when the waitress said, "That's it?" and I replied, rather whispery "Yeah."

She smacked her gum and then walked away.

"See? Was that so hard?" said Rusty in a fake teacher-to-student-who-couldn't-do-a-math-problem voice.

"It's so amazingly difficult that I'm sprouting antlers and now I have a headache," I lied easily, watching his face twist into a scowl.

"You're welcome."

"Thanks," I said, with a trace of sarcasm. I couldn't stand it when we fought like two friends that fought all the time but were still friends. Leah would say that we were extremely childish and that Rusty never truly grew up and I never would grow up. I guess that's true, because I was always the one who goofed off and jumped around like an excited second grader.

"We're leaving on August thirtieth," said Rusty, jolting me from my thoughts. "Are you packed and everything?"

I shrugged, thinking of all those clothes that still needed to be washed, dried, folded and put into my suitcase…which was filled with prank materials stashed somewhere in the closet. "Most of it's packed," I lied.

"You liar," he said, narrowing his eyes. Then he grinned and sat back, his fingers laced across his stomach. "I used to do the same thing."

"What? Lie?" I said.

"No. I didn't pack until the very last minute." He chuckled a little. "And when I say last minute, I _mean_ last minute. But I've gotten over that," he said dismissively, going back to serious-Rusty mode that was getting more and more common.

My coleslaw came at the very moment and we shut up for a while so I could eat. When I finished, I put my fork down and mimicked his position – his chin resting in his cupped palm, his eyes staring off somewhere outside.

"Done?" he said suddenly, startled.

"Been done, Captain Obvious," I said. I grabbed my baseball cap and put on my hat. "Cheerio, old chap. I'm off to go dig up my suitcase and start packing."

He stood up and looked…well, down at me. I was kind of short and he was like, Shaq, against me. He grinned slightly and then shooed me away with his hand. "Okay," he said jokingly, "I've had enough of you."

We walked out together and then went our separate ways.

**Later, My Room**

"Lily! Why would you shove _shaving cream_ by the _quarts_ in your suitcase?!" Leah was becoming very annoyed and I could tell. She was standing over my opened suitcase, looking down at the many cans of shaving cream tucked into odd corners, the bottles of honey, the string and the brown goop that I'd obtained from god knows where.

"Because, Leah," I said calmly, opening a drawer and searching through the oddly folded clothes, "I have to stay a kid as long as I can. I have to prank someone. You don't want to be the victim, do you?"

She scowled and turned for the door. "I'm looking for some rubber gloves," she said, half to herself and half to me. "Only God knows what else is in that bag."

**11:30, Rusty's Room, Rusty's POV**

You know when you have a weird dream and you _know_ it's a weird dream and you say so out loud? I was having one – and it was very…weird. I'd just walked into a club with Danny and the guys and the music was pounding, people were dancing, but the music sounded just like an office phone ringing.

Danny had turned to me with a humored grin on his face and had said, "This music's great, isn't it?"

I knew he was being sarcastic, but an office phone ring tone? You've got to be kidding me. And then Yen wanted to go to the floor and dance, and Turk Malloy went with him…and that's when I woke up to find that the phone next to my head was actually ringing.

"Hello?" My voice cracked and it was hoarse and tired-sounding.

"Mr. Powers? This is your five am wake up call." The voice on the other end of the line sounded really snooty and I wondered if it was Lily doing a prank call.

But at five in the morning? No way.

"Already?" I said just to humor the guy. He must get that everyday of his life when he does these wake up call things. I never actually knew why I applied for one. I guess Danny's rubbing off on me.

"Yes, sir, already. Have a great day." And he hung up.

Groaning, I sat up. Damn, I hated waking up. I rubbed my hand over my face and then stared at the curtains. It wasn't even light out yet! Maybe that was just daylight savings time or something. Who knew? I didn't pay attention in science class.

I got dressed and suddenly it hit me. We were flying back to New York today, and I remembered Lily hadn't packed. Rolling my eyes but feeling reassured that Leah had at least helped her set up her clothes or whatever, I went to the door and prepared myself for the hardest part of the day for a dad – waking everyone up.

Lily's door was first. She hated waking up as much as I did…or at least, I think she did. She always looked like she wanted to hit me when I woke her up.

I pounded on her door, shouting "Wake up!"

She opened the door and glared at me. "What, Rusty? Where's the fire?"

Even if she just woke up she still had that tongue of hers.

"What're you doing?" I said, looking her up and down. She was still in her pajamas.

"I was _sleeping_, Rusty," she said, "ever heard of it?"

"It's five thirty, day of take off. Get dressed."

She looked confused for a moment, and then realized something. "It's _eleven_ thirty." She moved her wrist and showed me her watch, which really said 11:30. "The night before."

I chewed on my lip a little and then looked up, inspiration dawning. "Oh."

_"Oh."_ This time, at least, that annoyed face wasn't for me. "That's just mean. He's mean spirited."

Damn. Damn, damn, damn! Could I _ever_ freakin' operate without Danny? _Shit_. He'd probably laugh at me if I failed and got us all in jail and he came to bail me out. _Crap_. This sucks.

"How many coffees did you have?" she asked suddenly, and I looked up and said immediately, "Five."

She looked exasperated for a minute and then waved me in. "Okay, okay," she said, shaking her head a little bit.

A few minutes later, she was in her bed while I was sitting in a chair, watching _Cheers _reruns on TV Land. She was over on her side, facing away from me, buried as far as she could under the covers. I could only see the top of her head, and of that only a little. She didn't even snore. Maybe that was a rule in her orphanage – snore and die a slow and painful death.

I shifted a little in the chair and stopped watching her sleep. Those coffees were getting to me a little – I'd never had _five_ before in one shot. I keep telling you – it's all Danny. He's rubbing off on me.

**Early the next morning, Lily's POV**

I just realized that I'd let Rusty into my room at eleven thirty at night last night. No wonder I was so groggy when I got up.

I woke up and flipped over onto my other side so I could see what Rusty was doing. He was slumped in the chair, his suit wrinkled and snoring ever so slightly. Shaking my head and grinning a little, I didn't wake him up and went into the bathroom to wash up.

I didn't take a shower with him in the room. There was no way I was taking a shower. I would never forgive myself.

I got dressed as quickly as possible and then came out of the bathroom to see Rusty waking up, his eyes all red like he was suffering a very bad hangover. "You ever drink five coffees again I'll personally make sure you have green tea for the rest of your life and nothing more than that," I said.

He sighed a little and sat up, rubbing his eyes with the heels of his palms.

"Sleep well?" I said, not unkindly.

"Thanks for noticing," he said, his voice hoarse from sleep.

"It's five thirty am _now_, Sleeping Beauty," I said. "You can go wake up the rest of them."

"Lily, I'll pay you all the money in the world to go wake them up," he said. "Can I just have ten more minutes of sleep? Damn, those coffees really do put you in a hangover!"

"I rest my case," I said simply, and left to do the job he asked me.

"What the hell?" said a groggy Adam as I pounded on his door. "Why so early, Lily?"

"Time to go," I said. "We're leaving today."

**Few minutes later, Rusty's POV**

When she walked back in, I was already standing and walking around. I was still trying to wake up – I also still couldn't believe that Lily invited me into her room – and I had a pounding headache. I'm never having those coffees again. I'll leave them for Danny.

"Ready to go?" said Lily, pulling out drawers and shoving things haphazardly into her bag. She stopped when I stepped next to her.

"Yeah, _mom_," I said with a grin.

She blushed. _Blushed!_

I gave her a playful smack upside the head. "Go finish packing. I'm going to go pack myself, actually."

"Yes, _dad_," she replied promptly.

I had a feeling it was going to be a good day.

A/N: I'm really sorry that that was so long! I had a gigantic idea for this chapter, but I decided that I'm going to save that for later! Anyway, the real reason for this author's note is for a casting call! That's right: I need some help with some characters.

I need some teachers for the recruits' schools and some basketball players for the team Lily's going to be playing on. The players will revolve around the casino owner's daughter, and they're like the "popular rich kids".

Name:

Age:

Hair:

Eyes:

Height:

Weight:

Personality [please make it a little nasty, remember, popular!:

Parents' Occupation:

Favorite Sport:

If on basketball team, what position [guard, forward, front guard, etc:

Favorite brand of clothes:

It's basically the same thing for the teachers, except skip b-ball position, favorite brand of clothes [only if you want too, though and the parents' occupation. Please put their subject, though, and I'm politely requesting at least one male teacher and one female teacher.

Oh, and that scene when Rusty knocks on Lily's door is from Ocean's 11, when Danny wakes Rusty up and they sit there in their rooms and get drunk anyway, please review and thanks for reading!


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: It's unfortunate, but I do not own the Ocean's series.

Summary: School. Homework. Cliques and basketball, Chinese food for dinner and the New York City night life. Can our gang survive these new circumstances?

A/N: A _huge_ thank you to those who supplied characters! It really saved me a lot of thinking, and with school and everything…yeah. So, all of you get cookies! This chapter I hope it's a light hearted comedy, but with a little nastiness raveled in between just to keep the drama up, but not to much. I'm also introducing jobs, and the Queens of the Court (the popular group).Oh, one more thing. On popular demand, we're getting a call from…Read and find out!

**On the plane, 7:45 in the morning, Lily's POV**

"Ladies and gentlemen, please fasten your seatbelts as we are about to take off." The fake-cheery and almost sickeningly sweet voice of the stewardess jolted me from my doze and I clipped my seatbelt. I didn't want that smiling face in mine, telling me oh-so-politely to _fasten your seatbelt or else._

"Do you think they get paid to be so nice?" said Adam. He was in the seat closest to aisle, with Leah to his right and me near the window. "Don't they get sick of it?"

"Why don't you ask her, Adam?" I said, looking up at the blond stewardess as she moved through the seats. "She won't get all yell-y on you. She'll probably politely ask you to shut your big fat mouth and kick you off the plane."

"That's a pleasant way to answer," he said, sounding hurt. "You're not a morning person, I see."

"Adam," I said, "we spent four weeks in Florida in the same hotel, waking up at six every morning. You should know I'm not a morning person by now."

"While you two are just _so_ interesting," Leah piped up, "I would appreciate it if you'd stop yelling in my ear."

Adam grinned and pulled the headphones off the rack of the seat in front of him and began watching the movie they were playing. He sniffed a couple of times and mimicked Leah chattering away.

I laughed and Leah glared at me and then turned to Adam, who had stopped and was watching the movie again. Laughing harder, I watched her get as red as her hair and take out her latest novel.

I sat back in my seat and wondered when Rusty, Madison and Paul's flight was. They checked out of the hotel about the same time we did, but their flight probably wasn't until later.

Lucky dogs.

"I wonder what jobs we're getting." Leah was obviously bored with her novel and she fixed that by turning to me. "I hope Madison gets a smelly and dirty one."

Adam took off his headphones and listened to us. "I want something in a deli or waiting tables," he said thoughtfully. "That way I can get girls' numbers."

"You're so narrow-minded," snapped Leah. She looked mad for a second, and then she calmed down. "Girls wouldn't even go within two hundred feet of you."

"Oh yeah? What about you and Lily? Don't you count for something?"

"No, we don't."

"We don't?" I said. I was busy trying to get the tray down so I could have something to eat. "We _are_ girls, you know."

"Last time I checked, you were my friends," said Adam. He reached over and clicked down the tray for me, watching with an amused smile as I scowled at it. "And girls and friends aren't the same thing."

I rolled my eyes and looked out the window again. We were rising higher and higher into the sky and the ground looked so far away. People weren't even visible anymore, and all you could see were the streets and the intersections, and not even that great, either. This was only my second time in a plane, and my ears still popped when we first went up.

"I wonder what the school's going to be like," said Adam. He was listening to the movie again, but one of his earphones was off his ear and in his black, curly hair. "Rusty said it was really prestigious and had a gymnastics team."

"I thought you were a male cheerleader," I said.

"Yeah, but when Yen taught me all of that stuff, I thought that was pretty cool. So, I'm going out for it." He thought for a minute. "And maybe even some of those yoga classes. Yen said that it would be great for what I'm going to be doing."

"Yen's his new hero," I sighed jokingly.

"Yeah, like you're missing out," said Leah. "Rusty woke you up, huh?"

I raised an eyebrow. Well, attempted too. "How did you know that? I'm supposed to be the recon agent, remember?"

"I heard you," she said with a shrug. "He had five coffees and he sounded really caffeinated."

"You're so nosy," said Adam.

"Curiosity killed the cat," I added.

Leah just rolled her eyes and cracked open that book again.

"You shouldn't read that much," said Adam.

"It'll make your brain explode."

Leah scoffed angrily and hit both of us with the book.

"Ow," we both drawled at the same time, and then cracked up laughing when she got up to go to the bathroom. It was kind of hilarious, and we were both chuckling when she came back.

"Immaturity," she said quietly. "I'm going to go sit with Linus." And she went off.

I settled back in my seat, ready.

Watch out, Big Apple. Here come Ryan's Five.

Or the Five Recruits. Either way it has an impact.

**10:52 A.M., New York City**

"What's _that_?" said Leah excitedly, pointing to the Empire State building.

"That my friend is the tallest building in New York," I said, paying the guy behind the counter for the hot dog and roasted peanuts. "Want a peanut?"

"You _lived_ here?" said Adam.

I nodded slowly. "Yeah…and what's so exciting about that?"

"Well, this is the biggest city in the United States, with over two million people in population," said Leah matter-of-factly. "There's been a study that proves that when people come to New York, their pace quickens and they're always in a rush to get somewhere."

"Five million people, Leah," said Linus.

"Read a book that's updated!" I said, smacking her shoulder lightly. "You're the bookworm!" I turned to Linus. "So, did Rusty have the courtesy to hitch us a ride or do we have to kick it?"

All three of them looked at me blankly. "What?" said Adam slowly.

"Did Rusty hire us a cab or do we have to hire one ourselves?" I translated. It felt good to be the one in control for a while and get my accent back. Being down in Florida for that long kind of made it disappear. I took a bite of the hotdog and swallowed, and then poured five little peanuts into my hand.

"He didn't," said Linus.

"Okay. That helps." I tossed one of the nuts up into the air and caught it with my mouth. Chewing, I said, "Where?"

Linus made this vague gesture and shrugged. "He didn't tell me."

"So…we're supposed to wait for him?" I tossed another nut into the air and caught it, again, in my mouth.

He shrugged again.

"All right then. I have a suggestion to make," I said. "Instead of waiting the airport, why don't we have a look at the sights? This is my town!"

"All in favor?" said Leah, always going for that democratic approach.

All three of our hands went up.

So we went around the town and saw the Empire State Building, the Garden, and things like that. Adam and Leah, being from California and Tennessee, couldn't exactly keep their eyes off the skyscrapers. Adam thought that the Naked Cowboy was hilarious when we walked down to Times Square (which was _far away_) and then my cell phone rang.

"Where are you guys?" said Rusty's voice. I thought he sounded a little offended.

"We thought you smelled, so we painted the town black and skipped out on you," I replied smoothly, switching the phone to my other ear. I scratched my upper lip and said, "You don't smell, but that cologne you wear is just a little much. Anyway, we're down in Times Square."

"May I ask _why_ you're down there?"

"Because Leah, Adam and Linus wanted to be tourists and see the world," I said, earning a glare from Adam and Linus and a smack from Leah. Man, she was abusive. "They're amazed at the height of the buildings."

"Why aren't you at the apartment?"

"Well, Mr. Ryan, if I was to tell you that, you'd just get all indignant and blame Linus, not yourself." I paused for a minute, listening for his reply. Hearing nothing and assuming that he was waiting for what else I was going to say, I continued. "You didn't tell us where the apartment was and you didn't hire us a cab. Now the first one is more important than the second one, because I could've hired a cab myself if you'd just told Linus where the freakin' apartment was."

He continued to be silent, though I could hear snatches of conversations. He was probably scowling or even smirking – either way would be an expression of annoyance for him. "It's Central Park West."

"Wow. That really helps, Rus." I looked around and saw that I lost Linus and the others for a minute. Spying them looking at the ticket sales for the Lion King, I shoved my way through the crowd and said, "Can you be a bit more specific? 'Central Park West' covers a lot of bases."

"3900 Spaulding, apartment 4D in the Embassy Building. Happy now?"

"Yes. Very. We'll see you when we see you." I shut the phone before he could reply and I went up to my friends. "We're going down to Central Park, guys."

"Ooh, classy," said Leah. She turned around and looked at me gleefully. "Can I hire the cab?"

"If you want to get hit by a car, then go ahead," I said sarcastically. I'm sorry. I really can't help it.

She scowled at me and I was the one to hire the cab, and then we all went along on our merry way towards the park.

**1:37 P.M. The Apartment**

"Now that we're all here in the same place at the same time," said Rusty, shooting a glance at me and then turning back to the group. "We'll pick jobs."

If you want a hilarious sight, picture Madison with her knees scrunched up to her chin with her fingers crossed, rocking slightly back and forth. Her eyes were closed and she seemed to be whispering something, and all I could make out was "Please not the diner, please not the diner!"

"Leah, you're working at the pizzeria down on Fifth Avenue. Adam, you're waiting tables at Mario's, the restaurant down on eighth. Paul, you're working at the deli around the corner –"

"Does anyone notice that these are all places with food?" I cut in, earning rolling of the eyes from Rusty. "You think you're going to get free food because your recruits are working there?"

"_No_, because our subject goes to each of these places whenever she's hungry." He chewed on his lip and then whispered out of the side of his mouth, "Maybe that too."

Raising my eyebrows but trying hard not to say anything sarcastic and slightly mean, I leaned back in the chair and waited for the rest of the job listings. I still needed a job and so did Madison, and it was all coming down to this.

"Madison, you're a cashier at the Savings Shack. And Lily…" He trailed off and smirked at me smugly, and I knew I was in for it. "You're a candy counter girl at the MAD theaters."

Scowling and glaring at him, though actually very happy with the job, I looked away. I was honestly glad I had nothing to do with waiting tables and stuff like that, and a candy counter girl was somewhat better than the rest. I was probably going to get minimum wage and all that, mostly because I was a teenager, and my sixteenth birthday was in three weeks, so until I was a 'registered' adult at eighteen, I was in for it.

"Now, with that said, other information. School starts in two days at eight o'clock – for those of you who don't remember their transportation routes, here they are: Madison, you're on foot. Leah, you've got the cab. Lily's got the bus; Paul's taking the cab and Adam's on foot. There's a uniform, and everybody bought theirs down in Florida, right? Okay. You start your jobs in a few weeks, exact dates not known." He took a deep breath, and looked at Linus, who shrugged. "Room assignments…"

Groans went around the room and Adam threw up his hands in exasperation.

Rusty looked around at us with an amused smile. "I guess I spoiled you when I gave you separate rooms. Now that we're one big happy family now," – no one could miss the well-aimed sarcasm – "we have to share rooms."

It was silent this time. We all were spoiled, I guess.

"Leah, Lily and Madison in one room. You guys have to be nice to each other," – glares shot randomly to myself and Madison – "and share the room like human beings. Otherwise, it's going to result in immediate grounding and nothing but school, homework and jobs."

Madison was obviously constructing an evil plan in her head.

"Adam and Paul will share a room. Same thing with you guys – be human beings or be grounded within an inch of your life."

"No need to worry about that, boss man," said Adam. "Me and Paulie are tight!" They did this stupid handshake thing that instantly reminded me of the _Fresh Prince of Bellaire._

"With that settled, it's curfew time."

"_What?_" squawked Madison. "We have a _curfew?_ What am I going to tell my friends? They're expecting me down at Club 24/7 at _nine_!" Her face was rapidly turning the bright color of beet red.

"_Yes_, Madison, you need a curfew. If we're all going to be high-class thieves, remember that we still have training and planning to do. You all need to be back here by eight thirty so we can go over battle tactics." Rusty seemed incredibly tired of talking. Apparently he was just used to two word sentences and nothing more than that. If I may add, he also looked a bit winded. "Your jobs are all right after school, and nine-thirty to eleven on the weekends."

"All right!" I said, clapping my hands and getting up. "Leah, Madison, let's go get unpacked." I grinned a little and sent a glance at Rusty saying _you've got to pay for that save._

He rolled his eyes.

**First Day of Class**

**Clearwater Academy**

**11:47**

"Whoa, Madison's already made friends?" I looked at Madison chatting it up with five or six girls, laughing and acting all buddy-buddy. "It's been, what, three hours? I've only met three people!"

Leah blew out her nose, which meant that she was confused and didn't have a clue. "I don't know. I think those are the popular girls, though. They must've noticed her designer gear and made a beeline for her. I don't know."

I shrugged and fixed the strap on my messenger bag. "Senior year and I'm still at the bottom of the food chain," I sighed. "Doesn't get any better than this, does it Leah?" I turned on my heel and started walking away from her.

"Lily!"

I turned around and that's when I slammed into a wall. Well, I thought it was a wall. Looking back around and seeing that it wasn't a wall at all and that it was actually a pretty cute guy, I felt my cheeks get all red. "Uh, sorry. I'm a klutz, you see, and it runs in the family…"

"Hey," he said. God, he _was_ cute. "That's all right. Here," he handed me my brand-spanking new algebra textbook, "you dropped this."

"Oh, thanks a lot." I grinned a little and straightened up. I realized that I was nearly half a head taller than him, but he was pretty tall himself. "Sorry for bumping into you like that."

He smiled. "Like I said, it's all right." He turned around to acknowledge the shouting of his friends. "I've got to go. See you later." He turned around, but not like that cold shoulder kind of turn around and that 'see you later' was the sincere 'see you later'.

"Oh my _God_, he was _so_ onto you!" shrieked Leah, practically loud enough for the guy to hear. She rushed up to my side and looked at his retreating back eagerly. "Someone's in for a little competition!"

"What?" I said a little dazed. "Who's in for competition? What competition?"

"Wow, you're lost," said Leah.

Later, at lunch, Leah put her books and her tray down and opened a brand new library book.

"Already been taking from the library, huh?" I said.

"For your information, Miss Carson, this was for your benefit and not mine," she said, not looking up. She turned another page. "That guy must be in here somewhere…"

"Not that again," I said. I was used to it, though. When Leah got attached to something she never let go.

"I've got him!" she exclaimed, and pointed to the picture. It was of the Clearwater Cougars, and guess who was captain?

"Gabriel Ross," I read out loud. "He's the two time captain of the Clearwater Cougars Varsity Boys' basketball team, Boy of the Year three years in a row and well-known boyfriend of Hannah Rodriguez. Some accomplishments, huh? No honors classes, no special recognitions…" I was being annoying and Leah knew it.

"More like boy toy," said Leah. "He's been on and off with her for three years."

"And you know this…?"

"It's in the 'seen with' section," she said matter-of-factly, and turned the page. Sure enough, there was this Gabriel dude and a good-looking girl.

"Oh, and there's basketball signups if you want to go try out," she said.

"Leah," I said, "we've been in this school for four hours. Would you just relax? You don't need to know everything in the first few hours of an eight hour school day."

"Six hours, to be exact," she said. "Seniors get out two hours early."

"Really?" I said.

"Yes, really."

"Move, geeks."

We looked up to see that same girl in the picture with this ugly sneer on her face and five or six girls behind her. Gabriel was there, but he was more off to the side and looking at the girl with apprehension in his eyes.

"Why should we?" I said, not getting up. "Who died and made you the President of the U.S.A.?"

"_I'm_ the Queen of the Court," she sneered, stepping closer.

"And I'm the Queen of England," I said. Now I was standing. "Doesn't mean anything here, does it, Your Highness?"

"Yes, it does," said the girl. The rest of the girls behind her, which I just realized included Madison, shifted. They looked ready for a fight, and Linus didn't drag me to a karate center for nothing.

"So what? Go find another table. It's easy." I turned around and sat back down, not actually caring what happened.

"Whatever." They stalked away.

Leah elbowed me and grinned. "Gabriel's looking this way!"

"Just drop it, okay?" I said moodily. "I'm not in the mood for this."

We walked down the hallway towards homeroom and I saw the sign-ups for basketball. There were already about ten kids on there, all of them except five crossed out in hot-pink, sparkly gel pen.

Christina Santos

Abby Larson

Kaily Adams

Madison George

Hannah Rodriguez

Penelope Golden

Sarah Peterson

Sheila Robinson

Adelle Daniels

Kelly Pauper

"Apparently the Queens of the Court don't want anyone else to join their team," said Leah next to me, looking the list up and down. "Even Madison's on there. They're really competitive here."

"Welcome to New York, Leah," I sighed. "You got a pen?"

"Probably. What do you need it…You're not!"

"I am." I took out a pen and scribbled my name underneath Kelly Pauper.

"They're just going to cross you out. When you come in tomorrow, expect to see your name scribbled on in hot pink gel pen."

"I don't care," I said. "I'm getting on this team whether they like it or not."

**Back at the apartment**

**7:47 PM**

I was wiped. Totally wiped. I was attempting to eat sesame chicken and white rice with chopsticks and listen to Rusty at the same time. He was blabbering on about something and everyone was paying attention to him as I tried to stab my chicken to eat it.

"Lily? Are you paying attention?" Rusty's voice stopped my chicken-stabbing and made me look up.

"Uh…maybe."

"You weren't."

"Of course not! I'm trying to eat!"

"Pay attention. You can heat it up later."

"Maybe I don't want to pay attention, _Rusty_."

"Maybe I said you should, _Lily._"

"Guys, stop fighting in immature _children_!" That was Leah and she sounded mad.

I sank back down into my chair and put my food on the foldable table and glared at Rusty. He looked just as smug as when I first met him. I made a face at him and returned to my chicken-stabbing.

"As I was saying, Madison it's good that you're making friends with the subject. She'll really warm up to you because of your attitude and your…clothes."

I hoped to God that he wasn't going to say something about me signing up for basketball.

"Lily, Leah tells me that you've signed up for basketball."

I spoke _way_ too soon, didn't I?

"That's good. Maybe you'll make captain."

Was that a compliment? I looked up and raised an eyebrow at him, but he was already looking at Linus for further subjects to talk about. I sighed and shot a look at Leah, who turned red and shrugged her shoulders.

"Go do your homework, except you, Lily. I need to talk to you." Rusty took Adam's vacated seat on the leather couch while everyone strayed off to their rooms to go their homework.

Leah gave me a look that said _want backup?_ And I shook my head and looked at Rusty.

"You're following the subject around, right?" he said finally.

"Yeah," I said.

"The subject is Hannah Rodriguez. Her dad owns the casino the Oasis, down on Broadway and off of Times Square. She's been on the Clearwater basketball team since she was a freshman and she was only freshman to ever make it on the team and she never lets anyone forget it. She takes outside shots and makes ninety percent of them and she likes to show it off. So, with that said, what do you say?"

"To what?" I said. "I have to follow the girl around and she likes showing off. What more is there?"

"She's very protective of her little clique and does not want any outsiders on the basketball court." Rusty frowned for a minute and scrutinized me again. I hated it when he did that. "Meaning you. It's going to be tough to set foot on that court. You any good?"

"I'll take you on, old man."

"Old man? I could send you back to that orphanage tonight."

"Sorry. I bet you I could wipe the floor with your face."

"I doubt that."

"Central Park, basketball courts at three thirty. Be there or never be able to live it down."

"Shake."

"No!"

"Shake."

We shook hands and I went off to do my homework.

Now don't bully me on this – I could've sworn I felt Rusty's eyes follow me until I went into my room and shut the door.

A/N: Sorry for the extreme long-ness. I had a particular idea for this chapter, but of course it would've been to long. I have a vote to put up!

Who do you want Lily to have a love interest in?

Gabriel Ross

Rusty

Linus

Adam

Paul

Happy Holidays!


	8. Chapter Seven II

Disclaimer: I do not own the Ocean's series. To those that do: you lucky, lucky people.

Summary: This one is a lot like chapter seven but more like a chapter seven/chapter eight. The chapter seven that's up already was ten pages long and I really did not want you guys to get turned off of this story because the chapters are extremely long. So, with that said: Lily and Rusty have their basketball show down _after_ a call from someone that hasn't been in the story. Lily compares Linus to a picture on the inside cover of her book, and…that's all I'm telling you!

A/N: Thank you, everyone, for submitting your votes! The winner was Rusty, with Linus finishing close in second. Sorry, no more votes will be taken into account. Thank you to those who have voted. And if you're wondering why in the world I told you, you could've figured it out _anyway_ by counting up the votes yourself. So, on with the chapter!

Daniel Ocean hated it when his wife accused him of lying, which was what he did as an occupation. He was the liar of liars, the con man of con men. He was one of the best, or so he had been told, and that was what got him annoyed. He was just was normal guy with a particularly acute strength for fooling people at their own game. His wife thought otherwise.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Danny. It's Rusty."

"I figured."

"How's the honeymoon?"

"Beautiful and romantic, isn't that right, honey?" The last few words he raised his voice, calling to the woman in the kitchen, fixing them both breakfast. Not getting a reply and knowing he wasn't going to get one, Danny turned back to the phone. "What's happening on your end? Nobody in the cooler?"

"Doubt that," said Rusty. There was some noise in the background.

"Hey, knock it off!" It sounded like a boy's voice.

"Is that…yelling? And am I on speaker?"

"Don't assume anything, Danny," said Rusty. "Anyway, I've got a new crew."

"What do you mean, a 'new crew'? What was wrong with the one we have?"

"Not _our_ crew, Danny. My crew." Rusty was muffling the mouthpiece and Danny could distinctly hear him scolding somebody.

"Were you scolding somebody?"

"As I said, don't assume anything."

"And what's this thing with your crew?"

"Adam! Stop blasting your music! I can barely concentrate!" That was a girl's voice this time. The girl sounded mad and indeed, there was pounding rock music in the background.

"What? I'm not doing anything!" came the reply.

"Rusty, what's going on?" Danny took a deep breath and reassured himself that nothing was wrong and nothing would go wrong. Hopefully that idea of Rusty having three unknown children was out of proportion and not true.

"Well, Danny, if I told you, you wouldn't believe me."

"Don't tell me –"

"No. Not that. That's my crew."

"Your _crew_? A bunch of kids?"

"That's about right. They're teenagers."

"How could you –"

"Pull it off? I could do it."

"How?"

"You doubt me?" Rusty sounded just a touch hurt.

Danny sighed and slid a hand down his face. He thought about the times when he and Rusty would get so drunk that they would be practically asleep at the table while playing cards and when they would finish each other's sentences. He also remembered when Linus would point that out and then turn uncomfortably red.

"Look, you can meet the team. Guys, c'mere!"

"Rus, I trust you –"

"Danny, listen."

"I'm Adam."

"I'm Paul."

"Madison."

"Leah."

A slight pause and there was the simultaneous intake of breath between three or four of them. Someone shifted and moved the phone over a touch and Danny could hear the shifting of bodies.

"Where's Lily?" That was Rusty.

"I don't know. She said something about trailing Hannah Rodriguez today after school." That was the girl named Leah. Danny had a knack for remembering voices and names.

"She did? Anyway, Danny, this is my crew and there's one more girl…"

He trailed off and Danny heard the opening and closing of a door.

**Lily's POV**

"What's going on?" I looked at everyone gathered around the phone on the coffee table and noticed that the speaker button was pressed. I dropped my backpack by the door and walked over.

"We're talking to Danny Ocean," said Linus, sending over a small grin.

"Hey, Danny," I said cheerfully.

"Hi, Lily," said a voice from the speaker that I assumed was Danny Ocean.

"So, Danny." Rusty picked up the phone and motioned for us to leave.

I went back and grabbed my bag, slinging it over my shoulder. I went to my room, threw the bag on my bed and then came back out again, going for the kitchen. I was hungry and my stomach rumbled loudly. I opened the fridge; saw a pizza wrapped in tin foil and thought, _lunch._

While I heating it up, I grabbed my book, _The Bourne Ultimatum_, and turned to the page when Bourne gets off the plane in Russia. It was towards the end of the book and I didn't want to put it down.

Linus came into the kitchen and went scavenging through the fridge and I suddenly had an impulse to look at the inside cover. On the inside cover of the book, I saw a picture of the main character and did a double take.

"Linus," I said, and he looked up, nearly hitting his head on the top of the fridge door. "Come look at this." He walked over and I said, "Doesn't that look like you?"

He squirmed uncomfortably and shrugged. "I don't know," he said.

Man, he gets uncomfortable fast.

My pizza was ready and I turned away from him, reaching up and taking out the really hot pizza and slamming it down on a plate before it burned my fingers. Shaking my hand so that the burning-of-skin feeling would go away, I picked up my pizza and my book and went into the living room, regardless of what Rusty was doing.

I didn't care whether or not the conversation was important.

"Yeah, Danny. I'll talk later – is that my pizza?" Rusty rolled his eyes and made a face.

"I didn't know that and now it's mine." I took a bite and it and chewed slowly, like saying _ha, it's mine!_

Rusty put down the phone. "Isn't almost time for our showdown?"

"After I finish this really good pizza."

"That's mean."

"What?"

"You're freakin' taunting me."

"So? That's my job." I grinned and ripped off the top of it. "Want it? I'll have the rest."

He took it and we ate our food in silence.

"_Leah!_" That was Adam's voice. "Stop going through my closet!"

I got up and walked down to Adam and Paul's room, where Leah was, unfortunately, doing an extreme makeover on Adam's closet. I really wondered why, because we just got here and I didn't even have time to make a mess out of my closet. Believe me, I could make a mess of any room in any house at any time of day, just give me a ton of stuff and a few hours and you'd have a problem. I always said that it was the room, not me.

"I'm just doing something for your health, Adam," said Leah matter-of-factly. "This closet could kill you."

I walked in and grinned at both of them, taking a peek at Adam's closet. There was nothing really messy about it, but then again I'm a messy person when it comes to rooms, so I really can't tell.

"Everyone get in here!"

Adam, Leah and I came out of Adam's room and down the hall. I bumped into Madison at the way and she shoved me into the wall. Rubbing my shoulder, I walked into the living room and flopped down on the leather chair.

"Okay, everyone," said Rusty, turning on a computer, which flashed onto a bare wall using a projector. "It's time to discuss targets, goals, et cetera, et cetera."

"Oooh," I said sarcastically.

He glared at me and then started a video.

"Our target is a casino called The Oasis in Times Square. It's elaborate and dangerous all at the same time. It's got high security cameras which can tell whether or not you're supposed to be there. There's an automated guest list – your reservations are recorded and your face photographed into the system. Getting in without a pass could be extremely hard, so that's why we have our inside man – I mean, woman – following the casino owner's daughter around. Even though you're not twenty-one, Mr. Rodriguez allows his daughter and her friends to wander around the casino at will, as long as they are followed by a security guard to make sure no one asks questions." He paused.

"Now, Lily's job is to at least make friends with her to get into the casino. Linus will do the recon work, since he's already over twenty-one." He looked at Linus. "You are, right?"

Linus chewed his gum thoughtfully and then nodded.

"Good. Past the brightly lit floors is the 'employees only' section. Cameras are here too, even though they do not recognize you like the others do. However, you need a pass to get past the doors, and down this corridor is the main elevator shaft. Down this shaft, at least ten feet below steel and ground is the Vanderbilt Vault 3500. It's the classiest vault I've ever seen. We need to do at least three Ella Fitzgerald's to get in to the vault alone, without the lasers on the floor. Adam, that's where you come in. The lasers move, much like the lasers in that museum that I told you about. Adam, at Clearwater you're already down for break dancing lessons. This will help you past the lasers, and once you get in, Leah comes in. Leah, you're going to cut the power inside the vault and no where else, so we don't bring attention to ourselves. Unfortunately for Mr. Rodriguez, he never wired the vault with cameras or a code bank, you can get in with a guard's pass. Paul, here's your chance. You get in, make sure the door stays open, and hold the door open for Linus, Lily and me." He took a breath and stopped the video.

"Lily, you're hitting the floor with Linus. This is recon work, so keep your eyes open for any guards that seem to know something we don't. Now, the passes. The passes are already being made by my close friend in Rome – the passes are coming in several weeks. Meanwhile, let's go over time lapses, timing…Remember, we're timing by the second, so be on your toes…"

And on and on it went. It was the longest conversation I'd ever heard Rusty say. I was keeping all this recorded in my head, down to the last period. I remembered timing, the codes, everything. Until Paul interrupted.

"Uh, Rusty?" Paul looked sheepishly up at him.

"Yeah?"

"Well, I guess I've never said this before, but I'm really good with computers."

Madison's jaw probably hit the floor.

"Really?" said Rusty, unfazed. "Well, I was going to bring in Livingston, but since we already have our tech man, I guess we don't need him." He turned to me. "Can you take Paul's place?"

"Let Madison do it," I said. "She doesn't do anything."

"I do _too_," she said, facing me with a scowl on her face. "_I'm_ the one who makes friends with Hannah, you dummy."

I rolled my eyes. "So what, you con the owner's daughter, big whoop. Does it do anything?"

"As a matter of fact, it _does_, and what did I say about being human beings?" snapped Rusty, glaring in my direction like it was my fault.

C'mon, was it my fault?

I guess. Just a little.

I sat back in my seat and looked at the floor. I hated being told off for something that I only had a little fault in. I bit my tongue and then looked back up at Rusty.

"Homework. Now."

**3:57 PM**

"You're late," I said, dribbling the ball easily through my legs and back in front of me. I watched Rusty step onto the asphalt court and look at me like I was crazy. "What? You're the one who agreed to play basketball, and the terms were in Central Park." I passed him the ball and he caught it with an ease of a teenager.

"Loser's ball."

"Winner's."

He scowled. "We'll flip."

"Break the ice, stupid. This is street ball." I stole the ball from his hand and went up to the foul line, settling myself and looking up at the backboard. It was warped, and the box had faded to nothing but pale lines. The net was gone, and the rim was rusted. Judging the distance and the power going into the shot, I bent my knees, came up and snapped my wrist, watching the ball soar through the air, hit the backboard and drop easily through the rim.

Rusty came up to the foul line while I rebounded the ball, and I passed it to him. Scowling, he set himself up, and without even jumping, got it through the rim. Smirking now, he tossed it easily to me and stood along the key.

I shot and made it in.

"Why not just start with you?" he said after the fifth shot we'd both got in.

"Age before beauty," I replied easily with a grin. "Go on, I'll check it you, _grandpa_."

He looked like he was about to say something, but he sighed and walked to the foul line, calling for the ball silently with his hands near his chest.

I passed it to him, and the battle began.

I won't go into immense details, because it was a lot of sweating, trash talking, and running. We were playing half-court, mostly because there were other people there and it would be hard running back and forth with only two players. There were no fouls, so when I knocked Rusty to the left with my shoulder, he tripped me on the next turnover. Soon we were wrestling for the ball, yanking it out of each other's hands.

My hair was a sweaty curtain in front of my eyes when I went in for the lay-up. Rusty came over and yanked on what was left of my ponytail, and I fell face first onto the hot asphalt. "Cheater," I mumbled as I sat up, pulling my hair into a messy bun. "You don't pull hair."

"Just because I don't have any hair to pull doesn't mean I can't pull yours," he said. He smirked and dribbled the ball for a minute or two until I stood up, brushing my long shorts off. He stopped dribbling, squinting towards the cityscape. "We'd better get going," he said. He turned to me. "Were you keeping track?"

"It was at least thirty to twenty five," I said. "You won."

"Don't be modest. You won."

We basically argued all the way home. We argued over who had won, who was going into the shower first, and who was going to McDonald's get everyone's dinner. I won the shower argument, but I had to get the McDonald's too.

I was going to make sure that Rusty didn't get fries.

**Clearwater Academy**

**English, 8:45 AM**

"I hate mornings," I muttered sourly as I dumped my backpack on the floor near my desk. "I wish school started at three."

"And ended at three-oh-five," supplied Leah. She was the morning person, not me, and she was all excited about finally meeting the new English teacher. She sat next to me, her red hair pinned back with two pencils sticking out of it like the Thai ladies down at the Thai deli that I got my lunch from.

"Yes!" I said, nodded blearily at her. "Someone gets it!"

"Good morning, troops." A blond haired lady walked into the classroom, smiling down at us. "I'm Miss Simmons, your new English teacher."

Suddenly, someone burst through the door. Leah grinned suddenly and elbowed me, and then I realized who it was.

Gabriel Ross stood there, a sheepish grin on his face. "Sorry, Miss Simmons, traffic in the hallway…"

"That's all right, Gabriel," said Miss Simmons, gesturing to the empty seats scattered around the classroom. "Make sure it doesn't happen again." The smile was back, and she asked that everyone stand up, one at a time, and give their names and what they liked to do.

"I'm Leah Thomas," said Leah easily when it was her turn. "And I like to study nuclear science."

"That's very interesting," said Miss Simmons, nodding at Leah. "Next."

I stood up, looking around the classroom. "I'm Lily Carson," I said. "I like basketball and listening to rock music." I sat down to feel everyone's eyes on me.

"So," said Miss Simmons, standing up. "Let's find out about me. I like baseball, I'm twenty-six years old, my first name is Rainey, and I enjoy teaching English to moody teenagers like you." The last part she said with a smile, and it wasn't fake. A chuckle rippled through the room. "I like making learning fun, so that's exactly what we're going to do."

Let me tell you – English class was definitely fun, more fun than any other class I've ever had.

Gabriel and I talked for about three minutes, saying that we both liked the same music, played basketball, et cetera. He told me that tryouts were on Wednesday, and maybe I'd want to come and watch the boys before the girls' tryouts. I shrugged, not thinking of what Rusty wanted the gang to do before hand, and said yeah, sure.

"You _what_?" Rusty's hands were on his hips, a sign that he was truly pissed off at me. "We have recon work to do; you have to follow the Rodriguez girl around. We have to go over plans, timing, rethink plans, rethink timing. What do you think this is?"

I sighed and stood up from my place on the couch. "Rus, it's before the girls' tryouts. Where is Hannah going to be before the tryouts? The locker rooms, right? I'll be in and out of the locker rooms and I'll be doing my recon work from there. No worries!" I headed for my room, not looking back.

A/N::glares at chapter:: Not as good as I wanted it to be, but it's something! That's chapter seven part two/chapter eight. Lol, that's kind of confusing, so we'll just say that it's chapter seven part two. I'm sorry for those who didn't want Rusty to be her love interest – maybe there'll be some one-shots with Linus and Gabriel. I'm actually writing one to bust my writer's block. You'll see it sometime soon on the boards, as soon as I get it done. Bye!


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer**: I do not own the Ocean's series. It's sad, isn't it?

**Summary**: Basketball tryouts! Will Lily make the team, and if she does, be made captain or co-captain? Will Madison make the team as well? Not only is there basketball, but there's layouts, blueprints, thousands of plans that need to be rethought, timing that needs to be fixed.

**A/N**: So this is officially chapter eight. Enjoy. Please review on the chapter with constructive criticism.

My alarm clock went off at six o'clock on Wednesday morning, blaring the news station the loudest it could go. Madison stirred on the bed nearest the window; Leah started and punched her pillow in anger, and I just hit the snooze button and flipped back over. I hated getting up in the morning, as I've said before. But my homework had taken so long last night that I finally crashed at one o'clock in the morning with my biology books still in my lap.

"Ugh," groaned Leah. I heard her get up and walk across the hardwood floor, her feet muffled by her too-long pajamas. She flipped on the ceiling light, making me dive under the comforter.

"Leah!" I said from underneath the comforter, my eyes closed tight. "We've got at least another half hour!"

"Well, I'm getting ready." She moved around the room, getting whatever she needed, and quietly went out into the hallway.

I sat up, my eyes burning and my hair tousled. I threw back the covers, started looking around for my school uniform, (which I already lost) and shoving my unfinished homework back into my book bag. I heard Madison flip over and go back to sleep. I yawned, blearily looking around our room.

It was kind of small, but it was room enough. There were three beds -- two along the wall and another nearest the window facing sideways. It was a U shape, almost, if beds could make a U. The walls were a disgusting pink color, bright, neon pink. I'm sure that Leah and Madison loved the pink color -- but me, hey, that's just not on my palette. There was one window and one closet. With Madison's many clothes and mine and Leah's moderate collection, we shoved most of our clothes under our beds in plastic boxes. Two vanities to check our faces -- like I would need it, because I never checked what I looked like anyway -- and a door leading out to the hallway. It was pretty sloppy, with clothes tossed all over (but our undergarments carefully put away because the boys liked to hang out in our room most of the time) and posters hung crookedly on the wall. I liked it, except for the pink.

Leah came back in, all dressed and ready for her walk to school. I passed her on the way to the bathroom and I dived in there before Adam got a chance to open his eyes and get there before me.

"Ha ha," I said with a smile, gently closing the door so I didn't snap his hand in the door. I did my thing, brushing my hair and putting it into the sloppiest bun imaginable. I changed into my clothes, pulled up my knee socks, fixed my skirt, making sure it was regulation, and fixed the horrible cross tie around my neck, underneath the collar. I checked my reflection (guilty as charged, but vanities were for makeup), and suddenly realized that I forgot my basketball stuff.

I yanked open the door and dove into the hallway, slipping and sliding down the hardwood floor in my knee socks. I slid past Paul, who was on his way to the bathroom, and grabbed hold of the threshold of the girls' room before I slid into the living room.

"Didn't I tell you running in knee socks wasn't smart?" said Leah with a grin, folding up her pajamas. "God, your hair looks like it hasn't been brushed."

"It hasn't," I said quickly, going underneath my bed and taking out the plastic boxes. I looked for some shorts and a t-shirt, found them both, and rolled them into a ball. Since I couldn't wear sneakers with my uniform, I snatched up my high tops, tied them together with the shoelaces, and then ran to get a plastic bag from the kitchen.

When I came back, I shoved everything for basketball into the bag, shoved that bag into my backpack, and zipped it all closed. Taking a breath, I turned to see Leah grinning at me like a hyena and Madison rifling through her makeup bag.

"Lily," said Leah, still grinning like crazy, "breathe."

"I am breathing," I said. "See?" I took a deep breath and held it in, just to annoy her.

"Are the boys up?" she continued, opening the bedroom door and looking down the hallway. "Adam was going to walk with me down to the school."

"They're both up," I said. "Madison, aren't you going to use the bathroom?" My lame attempt at being a 'human being' fell flat on its face and didn't get up.

"I'm taking a cab," she said matter-of-factly. "I'll be one of the last ones here."

"Oh," I said with a shrug, checking my book bag one last time. "I didn't finish my biology homework. I crashed at one o'clock in the morning." I yawned again.

Leah shook her head but didn't offer any sympathy. "You procrastinate to much. If you did your homework before playing basketball with Rusty, you could've watched _A Cinderella Story_ with us."

"Nah," I said. "I was too tired from playing basketball and then getting McDonald's for everyone after that." I rubbed my eyes, breathing slowly and wishing it wasn't a school day. "But on the bright side, I have tryouts today. And Gab--"

I stopped. Leah and I agreed that saying anything about Gabriel around Madison would be dangerous not only to the plan, but to mine and Gabriel's "friendship." We were quickly becoming friends, talking in every English class and trying hard to be partners in group stuff. Leah supported me in everything I did, not getting jealous when I looked at her, asking with my eyes "can I be partners with Gabriel?" We were also starting to call each other Lila (my nickname that he made up) and Gabe.

Madison didn't seem to notice. She was still choosing her makeup.

Leah and I breathed a silent sigh of relief. I checked the time and noticed that I had to run if I was going to catch the seven forty-five train to Burgess Avenue. I normally took the bus, but I was in the mood for a subway ride. I grabbed my stuff, said goodbye to Leah and Madison, clapped Adam on the shoulder as I passed him in the hallway, and grabbed one of Rusty's half-cooked frozen waffles on my way out the door.

The crisp morning air was certainly something that could wake you up better than coffee. I walked down the street, looking around at the city that I grew up in. A small smile twitched across my face as I made it to the subway station, heading down the steps quickly.

The subway station smelled musty and old, especially since it rained last night. I swiped my Metro Card and headed to the platform, leaning against the wall and waiting for the train. I surveyed the platform casually, which was becoming a habit ever since Linus stomped it into my brain back in Florida. There were business people late for their jobs in the middle of Manhattan. There was the musician that I saw every time I headed down here with his saxophone and his case, ready for a day on the grind. This was half the reason why I liked Manhattan, or New York City in general -- there were so many different types of people, different cultures, different habits.

A silver train roared past and came to a standstill, its metal wheels screeching against metal rails. It was my train and I stepped forward to grab a seat or a strap. I ended up standing, being jostled around by the other people and getting in the way. I swore to myself that I would never take the train again on Wednesdays unless I got there at six in the morning.

The train hurtled through the tunnels, the loud screeching of the wheels drowning out the music on my iPod. Scowling, I checked the stop schedule and realized that I would get to the school much earlier than usual because I took a nearer subway. Grinning at my luck, I leaned my weight against the bars and awaited the morning at Clearwater Academy.

**English Class**

**9:01 AM**

"Carson, Lily?" Miss Simmons' head jerked up and looked around for me. When she found me with my hand up, she smiled and checked my name off on the attendance sheet.

After attendance, she jumped off her desk and spread her arms wide. "So, troops," she said, "how do you like English so far?"

Cheers erupted around the classroom. Gabe turned around in his seat and sent a wink towards me. I grinned at him and gave him a cheesy thumbs-up, and he smiled and turned around.

"Today we're learning about grammar." Ms. Simmons ignored the groans and the boos of disapproval, a total contrast to the cheers minutes before. "Due to the texting and the chatrooms, Instant Messaging, et cetera, your grammar is atrocious. Many teachers agree with me." She turned to the board and wrote: _Hi. Wat's up? Nmjc. Wat r u doin 2day? Im doin nothin._ She turned back around and pointed to it with her finger. "I text too, believe me. But we do not put this into our reports or creative writing assignments. Does Shakespeare write like this?" She paused. "Well, he has his own grammar. But does S.E. Hinton write like this? What about Robert Ludlum? J.K. Rowling?"

Murmurs swept across the room, some agreeing with the teacher and others disagreeing. I texted, I chatted, I Instant Messaged. But I didn't write like that in my reports though, but my grammar basically stunk. My old English teacher would scribble all over my reports, telling me to spell check.

My cell phone buzzed in my bag, and I picked it up and hid it under my desk. My eyebrows were knitted together as I flipped it open, seeing a new text message. I opened it, noticing it was from an unknown number.

_Look me! I'm texting!_

_Gabe_

It was hard not to laugh. I chuckled and looked up, seeing him looking my way. I grinned at him and texted him back, saying, _Me too! LOL!_ It was enough to brighten my day just a little bit more, because I had double periods of math next, which meant ninety minutes sitting there, looking at x y 23xy to the second power, which I didn't get at all. It was brain flattening algebra, and since I wasn't becoming an engineer, I didn't need algebra.

I added his number to my phonebook and looked back at Miss Simmons, who noticed us but couldn't reprimand us. Gabe and I were goody-two-shoes, and so was Leah, and she didn't dare yell at either of us.

We worked on grammar the entire morning. We were put into groups -- Gabe and me not together this time. Instead of yelling about the whole "texting" thing, she separated us. I sat with a girl named Rachel and a boy named Josh, and we got through our grammar exercises without talking so much. The grammar exercises had to be from sixth grade, but they were fun anyway.

Miss Simmons called us to attention. She wrote the homework on the board. It was more grammar exercises, and we all copied it down in our school-provided agendas. We talked until the bell rang.

"Hey! Lily!" I turned around and nearly crashed into Gabriel again, just like when I first met him. I steadied myself and looked up at him.

"Are you still coming to the tryouts?" he asked, starting down the hallway with me close behind.

"Yeah," I said, smiling. "I'm getting home at least seven o'clock tonight on the subway. Sixteen, no car."

"Your sixteen?" he asked, looking down at me, surprised. "I didn't know that."

"I got skipped a grade."

"Which one?" He stopped at his locker, opening it and shoving his English books in.

"First," I said, leaning against the lockers next to his. "I went from kindergarten to second grade."

He nodded, taking out his calculus books. _Calculus! _He turned back to me and smiled at me. I noticed how it made his eyes light up, and my stomach did three back flips.

"Hey, baby." Hannah Rodriguez came slinking up in her latest edition of the Clearwater Academy uniform -- extremely short skirt, toe socks that prevented knee socks blocking out the _lovely_ view of her fake-tanned legs, and the shirt without the embarrassing cross tie, which was tied in the back, showing her belly and was halfway unbuttoned.

And men find this _attractive_? This is embarrassing! Who would want to show half their body? Or am I just weird?

"Hi," said Gabriel curtly, not looking her in the eyes. His head was bent and he was flipping through his calculus book.

"So, are you coming to 24/7 tonight?" she asked, her voice silky. She apparently

hadn't noticed me yet, leaning on the lockers on Gabe's other side.

"I have tryouts tonight, remember?" he said, his head still bent.

"But you're already captain," she whined quietly. "Why do you have to go?"

"Because," he said. "I help choose the new players. There are a lot of choices this year."

"That's not a problem for the girls' team," she said, obviously unsettled. I observed this quietly, not drawing attention to myself. "We only need about six girls."

"You definitely need some new players," said Gabe, apparently noticing my warning glance. I didn't want to be mentioned. "Six players on the team is bad. What if the sub hurts herself? You don't have any other subs and you have five starters and no second stringers."

Hannah pouted, further unsettled. She bounced back quickly, though, and smiled sweetly. "Well, good luck. I'll be at the girls' tryouts. The girls' coach is annoying, because she won't choose a captain. _I'm_ a natural born leader, but nobody would listen to me."

I got off the lockers, realizing that all three of us were late for our next classes. I hurried down the emptying hallways, taking out my cell phone along the way. I sent a text message to Gabe: _I had to get out of there. ttyl._ He replied with a winking smiley face.

**Boys' Basketball Tryouts**

**3:37 PM**

The gym was cavernous, with a high, arching ceiling and cathedral like windows. The floor was newly polished, the backboards looking brand new. There was a crate of brand new basketballs near the coach's office, and the locker rooms emitted a scent of cleaning product, which I always liked the smell of. The girls' locker rooms had well, lockers and bathrooms and showers. It was all colored blue and gold -- Clearwater's colors.

I went to my locker, 772, and opened it. I shoved my school clothes in there, already changed into my shorts and t-shirt. I closed it and went to the drink machines, listening to the sound of dribbled balls, the shouts to pass it, and loud, boisterous conversations coming from the opening of the girls' locker room. I sighed and took my water, heading out to the left court in the expansive gymnasium.

"Hey, hey, hey." Leah sat on the bleachers, her red hair standing out considerably today. She wore a bright smile and offered me some Doritos. "So, how's Gabriel?"

"Great, thanks," I said, crunching on the spicy chips. "Why are you here? Aren't you supposed to be learning with Basher or something?" I sat next to her and looked at the court, watching the boys warm up and assessing their skills.

"I talked Rusty into letting me keep you company," she said, taking out her latest book. "Also I wanted to check out the Academy's inventory."

I narrowed my eyes at her. "Inventory of what?" I asked, until it dawned on me. "Oh. You're a desperate girl." She hit me on the shoulder with her book. "Well, you are."

She sighed and continued reading, apparently tired of talking to me.

"Okay, boys." The coach stepped to half-court, calling for the boys' attention.

"Today is tryouts. In two weeks, those who make the final cut will be our new Clearwater Cougars Boys' Varsity team. Now, may I present our captain for three years running, Gabriel Ross."

Gabriel stepped forward in all his glory in his basketball jersey, looking tall and proud and happy all at the same time.

That is, until the gym's door opened and Hannah's clique walked in. Madison was there, in a light blue tank top that showed off her cleavage. She was lagging behind, checking out the "inventory", as Leah put it earlier. The clique continued, sitting on the lowest division of the bleachers, giggling like the idiots they clearly were.

Leah elbowed me, telling me with her eyes that Hannah was here if I didn't realize this already. I nodded to her and checked my cell phone for text messages, wondering if Rusty decided to send me one reprimanding me for the waffle I stole that morning. There was none, and I turned back to the tryouts. The boys were starting with warm-ups, running laps.

Each time Gabe passed, he sent up either a wink or a smile, and continued on his way. Hannah obviously noticed this and was sending death glares at me from across the bleachers. She was not a happy woman.

I sat there through the entire tryouts, keeping an eye on Hannah. I was getting hungry -- the five Doritos I snatched from Leah was definitely not enough. I went to the smoothie bar in the cafeteria for a strawberry banana Ice Grind, sipping it through the straw so fast I got an immediate brain freeze. Pressing the roof of my mouth with my thumb (which was said to alleviate brain freezes,) I walked back into the gym and rejoined Leah at the top.

"Hannah's been sending you daggers ever since those laps," she said when I plopped down, giving her a sip of my smoothie. "She'll definitely find a way to press either Gabe or you for answers tomorrow or even later."

"So what?" I said, putting my half gone smoothie down beside me. "We're not an item or whatever."

"You're getting there," she said.

I shook my head and refrained from elbowing her.

**Girls' Tryouts**

**5:05 PM**

I grabbed a basketball from the crate and held it in my hands for a few seconds, as though admiring it. I loved basketball -- it was my calling. Well, kind of. You get my meaning, though. I dribbled it, loving the sound it made as it echoed through the high ceiling. I dribbled it to the foul line and let it spin -- hearing it go through the net without bouncing around on the rim.

"Well, well, well." Hannah's voice made me turn around.

"What?" I said, not coldly. "I'm here to try out. Any problems?"

"Of c_ourse_ there's a problem!" she said. She put her hands on her hips and glared at me, scowling. "The basketball team is reserved for the Queens of the Court _only_. But I have to hand it you." Her mood changed swiftly from pissed to cool in seconds. "You had the nerve to show up."

"You got that right," I said.

The rest of the clique came up behind Hannah, all of them mimicking her stance, their hands on their hips, scowling. I saw Madison towards the back of the group, obviously not in Hannah's top five.

"So," I said. "Did you win any championships?" Come on, I try to make friends. I'm invading on someone else's territory, like with Gabe, but it's a free country, isn't it?

"One since I was here," piped up one of them.

The door behind us opened and slammed shut, making me turn around. The coach moved towards us. She was a heavyset woman, with a whistle and a stopwatch hanging from a lanyard around her neck. She was carrying a clipboard. Her hair was short, up to her shoulders, and was obviously colored out of a box. She stopped in front of us, sizing us up.

"I'm Coach Brendan," she said roughly, her voice sounding like sandpaper. "I've been a coach for twenty years and I expect you to know your stuff like I know my stuff. Seeing that there's not a great turnout like we expected, I recognize the majority of your faces. Hannah," she nodded her head at the girl, "nice to see you back. Now, the two you, the girl at the back and you. Tell me your names."

"I'm Madison George," she called.

"I'm Lily Carson," I said.

"Nice to meet you all. Now, now that I know your names, let's talk about these tryouts…"

She went on to say that this year tryouts were going to be rough. Eighteen laps for warm-up -- fifteen jogging and three sprinting around the gym. Fifty pushups, fifty crunches, and thirty bicycles. Two water breaks, and then drills. After the drills, three-on-three with one sub practice game. One water break, and then cool down. After that, you get to hit the showers and get out.

We began running, me lagging behind, saving my energy for the sprints. I noticed Coach Brendan watching me lag behind, maybe thinking I was lazy. When I finished the first fifteen laps, my calves were screaming at me to stop, but I pushed on and sprinted around the gym, passing the rest of the girls.

We carried on, doing our tryout thing. It was hard, excruciating, even, but it was fun. I liked working my muscles and feeling my heart pounding. It was a great way to wake up after a long day in school, sitting at a desk. I played my hardest, wanting to get a position on the team, even though Coach probably realized that having seven girls on the team was practically a miracle, since only the five 'Queens of the Court' got onto the team for the past three years in a row.

"Okay, ladies," said Coach, calling us all together after our three-on-three. "The cuts will be made and the team posted on the main bulletin board by the end of the this week. Make sure you clean out your lockers and clean out your hair from the drains if you plan on taking a shower. That is all." She turned on her heel and left.

"Well, new girl," said Hannah icily in the locker room. I was in the shower, blocked by the shower curtain. "Seems like you did a good job. Maybe you'll make captain. Captain _Dork_!"

She and her little band of cronies started laughing.

"Don't think that's a little immature?" I said, turning off the water and drying myself inside the shower curtain. "Name calling is so seventh grade. Get over it."

She was silenced as I changed in the shower and then stepped out in sweats and a nice top. I got my things and my book bag and headed for the door.

Leah had long since gone, telling me that she had a lot of homework to do. I walked down the silent hallways alone, my feet making the only sound. I slipped out into the cool October night and headed towards the subway station. Suddenly, my cell phone vibrated and I took it out, seeing a text message.

_I stayed for most of the tryouts. Ur a great b-ball player. Hope u make the team._

_P.S. Go w/ me on a picnic in Central Park tomorrow?_

It was from Gabriel. I smiled and looked down at the message, feeling my stomach do five back flips. I continued on, texting him back.

_Picnic it is. Time? And thanks for the compliment._

I got onto the train and headed home.

**Next Day**

**Lunch**

"Lily! Lily!" Leah came catapulting out of nowhere, nearly knocking me over as she rushed to my side. "Lily, they've posted the tryout results!" She was out of breath and looked so excited, like a little girl going on a pony ride. "Come on!"

"Can I at least finish my lunch?" I said, looking sadly down at my sandwich. My stomach grumbled pathetically as Leah yanked me out of my seat and down the hallway. "It's not that important, Leah --"

The list was posted on the outside wall of the dean's office. I looked down the list, looking for my name. I didn't see it until the bottom, where it was alongside the italicized word: _Captain_.

"You made captain!" squealed Leah, giving me the biggest bear-hug a petite red head could muster. "I'm so proud for you! That means you get access to the weight room early and you get the big lockers in the locker room…"

I felt a gentle hand on my shoulder and I turned to see Gabriel. I smiled brightly and pointed to my name on the list. "Captain!" I said excitedly.

"Great!" He looked down at me with a sly smile on his face, and Leah suddenly left my side. I watched her go, but she said with her eyes: _pay attention to him!_ He smiled at me and said, "Captains have to meet with each other, you know."

I could actually feel my cheeks heat up. Suddenly the bell rang, and the deans were glaring at us, like _get to class or else._ I stuttered out a shy goodbye and he smiled warmly. I turned and headed down the hallway, hurrying to Spanish class.

**A/N**: Fluffiness but not a lot of serious Ocean's-type action. Sorry about that, but this time I wanted to get in some Gabriel/Lily and to finish the whole thing about the tryouts. I'm going to try and alternate between the serious "let's rob a casino" thing to the whole soap opera-y chapters, but I won't totally torture you with the fluffiness. Thanks for the reviews and all that, they're appreciated. Imagine out. ;-)


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: Imagine does not own the Ocean's series.

Summary: Recon work at the Oasis! (And another potential catfight.) Annnnnnnnnnd a little Rusty/Lily. ;-)

A/N: Imagine asks politely for more reviews. Imagine wants constructive criticism. Imagine wants to be able to put what her reviewers want into her chapters. Imagine is also talking in third person. "Please enjoy the story and _**review**_!" Imagine says. Oh, and Imagine is sorry for the hold up. Imagine has temporarily lost her muse for Ocean's.

* * *

"Leah?" I said, looking down at the latest brain-flattening edition of math homework. "Can you help me?" I looked up and noticed that she was fixedly staring at the television, mechanically lifting popcorn to her mouth without even sorting through the burnt ones. "Uh, Leah?"

"What?" she said, not turning around. "I'm watching _General Hospital_. Leave me alone."

"What's with you and all that drama?" I asked, grudgingly returning to my homework and erasing the last six problems in frustration. "Can you please help me with the Math Nazi's homework? Please?"

She muted the television and turned around, glaring at me. "Lily," she said, "go ask Adam or somebody."

I sighed. "Adam's not home and neither is Paul. They're both at work."

"What about Madison or Gabriel?" Her attention was slowly trickling back to the television. She turned around and turned the sound back on, activating the high-pitched wailing of somebody-who-got-cheated-on-by-someone.

"Gabe's at the gym and Madison wouldn't help me with anything." I turned the page in my textbook so fast that it ripped down at the bottom. I scowled and wrote out the rest of the problems, struggling to figure them out.

"Why don't you ask Rusty or Linus?" she said. She was quickly tuning me out and I had no choice to argue with her. Would you really wrestle with an angry cougar?

Didn't think so.

I got up with my textbook and binder and shuffled down the hallway. I didn't want to ask anyone for help -- actually, I wanted Leah to help me -- and I definitely didn't want to ask either Rusty or Linus for help. They were to busy. They told me themselves last night that they were up to their chins in blueprints. I scowled and came to the doorway of Rusty's bedroom. I knocked on the door. "Rusty?"

"Yeah?" His voice was hoarse, like he just woke up.

I walked in and saw him sprawled across his bed, a glass of wine in his hand, his eyes trained on the small television which had Oprah jabbering away on it.

Talk about awkward.

"Uh, I was wondering if you could help me with my math homework, but since you're busy…" I scowled and turned to walked back down the hallway and bother Leah until she helped me with my stupid math homework.

"Yeah, sure," he said. He sat up, groaning a little. The bed groaned too. He rubbed his eyes and yawned and set the wine glass on the bedside table. He patted the bed next to him and rubbed his eyes again. "So, what type of math homework you got?"

"Extremely difficult stuff," I said, putting the textbook down in front of him. "Algebra."

He glanced at me like _are you kidding?_ "That stuff's easy."

"You're not the one failing math." I turned to a fresh page of loose leaf and wrote down the page number, all that jazz.

"Okay…" He studied the page for a few minutes. "Okay. So, _X_ plus _Y_ to the sixth power is equal to 143." He looked at me.

"Um…?"

He made a face and tried a different tactic. "Say we pull off 143 heists in Europe. You pull off _X_, and I pull of _Y_ to the sixth power."

"How come you get the sixth power?" I asked. I loved annoying him like this. It was entertaining.

"Do you want me to help you with your homework or not?" he asked. He was glaring at me, but a smirk was twitching at his lips. "Fine."

And so it went like that. The unknowns were how many jobs we could pull off each, and we figured it out from there. There was a lot of laughing and joking around, mostly by me, and we finished in about an hour.

I got up and took everything with me. "Have fun with Oprah," I called over my shoulder as I walked down the hall. "Make sure she gives away a house."

"Will do!"

"Sounded like you guys had fun in there," said Leah when I came into the living room and threw all my stuff down on the couch. "Who knew math homework could provoke laughter?"

"Hardy har har," I said. "What time is it?"

"Almost one."

I got up and bolted for the bathroom. I just remembered Gabe's picnic thing! I scowled at my reflection in the mirror and started brushing my hair. I yanked at a particularly stubborn knot and winced. I put the brush down, put my hair up in a sloppy bun, and then took off for my room to change.

Someone knocked on the door. "Can I see what you're wearing?" asked Leah.

"One second." I zipped up jeans, checked my appearance in the mirror (again, guilty as charged), and then let Leah in. "Okay?"

"Yeah, you're such a babe," she said, telling me with her hands to turn around. "Gabe's gonna be drooling over you today!" She grinned when I smacked her. "Who's the abusive one now?"

"All right," I said, skipping out of my room with my shoes in my hand. "I'll put my shoes on in the elevator, I'll see you later."

"Peace!"

I ran down the hallway, probably forgetting my keys to the apartment, and called the elevator. The doors opened and I found myself with an empty elevator. I got in and put on my Nikes, tying the laces in the weird way I learned how to tie them when I was five years old.

The elevator hit the ground floor and I took off for Central Park, which was just across the street from my building. I crossed the street and then remembered that Central Park was pretty big…and I didn't know where Gabe was meeting me.

So I texted him.

_Where r we meeting? _

I got a text back: _Strawberry Fields._ Yay! I happened to love the Beatles. I walked down the block for a while, my hands in my pockets. I loved Manhattan. Did I mention that already? Sorry. I'm a little happy right now.

He was sitting on a plaid blanket with a plastic bag sitting next to him. He was laying on his back, his hands behind his head, staring at the sky. I walked up to him and peered down at his face, blocking out the sun. He opened his eyes and grinned at me. "Hey," he said, sitting up. "Wanna sit?"

I sat down on the blanket and grinned at him. "Cliché blanket, dude," I said, chuckling a little, "where'd you get it? 'Picnics-R-Us'?"

"Don't hate, appreciate," he said, handing me the plastic bag. "And there's your picnic basket -- sorry I couldn't get you the clichéd one, they were all out." He smiled. He had a gorgeous smile. What am I saying? It was just a friend-date.

But when I told Leah that, she said there wasn't a such thing as a friend-date.

How does she know, anyway?

I opened the plastic bag and took out a thermos and a plastic plate of salad covered in plastic wrap. "Were they out of lunches, too?" I asked, raising an eyebrow and gesturing to the salad plate thing.

"I'm a guy," he said. "Guys don't know how to make picnic lunches. I tried!"

I took the plastic wrap off the salad and took the dressing (which was also in the bag, but in a mini thermos) and made myself lunch.

We talked about basketball mostly, and then we talked about the world around us. And then we started playing Would You Rather…?

"Would you rather…go out on a date with Joe Jonas or Brad Pitt?" he asked. He was lounging on his elbows, looking up at me.

"Joe Jonas, mostly because he's closer to my age. Brad Pitt's forty-four." I chewed on a cherry tomato thoughtfully, thinking up his would you rather. "Would you rather…meet Jessica Alba with a booger coming from you nose and sticking to your earlobe or jump out of plane with no parachute and a smelly instructor?"

"Wow, you think up good ones!" He sat up a little, grinning. "Um, the second one. Miss Alba will just have to wait until she dies and comes to Heaven to meet me."

"Other way around, doofus," I said, laughing. "_You_ would have to meet Jessica Alba."

"Ruin the rest of my dreams, why don't you?" He laughed and sat up. "Do you realize how funny you are?"

"Well, I've been told that I have a sense of humor, but it's usually in the sarcastic manner…" Rusty always told me to watch my humor because some people (mostly him) got tired of it and didn't want to listen to it anymore.

"I'm not saying it sarcastically," he said, his voice a lot softer than it was a minute ago. "I'm saying it like a real person would say it. That you _are_ funny."

I could honestly say I was blushing. Literally, my cheeks were heating up and it wasn't from the sun. I leaned on my elbow, tilting my head a little at him.

The smile that was on his face slowly drifted away, replaced with a content expression. He reached up with one hand slowly, brushing the hair away from my face. He started to lean up, his body unfolding with each movement. He was closer now, so close I could smell the cologne he wore on the weekends (he told me so.) He was about to kiss me when --

"Oh my _God!"_

We sprang apart, startled. I squinted into the sunlight and saw a girl's frame come marching towards us. I could only think of one person: Hannah. I shifted, moving away from Gabriel.

"You're _cheating_ me? With _her?_' Hannah's voice rose a note and she brandished her Coach bag angrily at Gabriel. Her eyes were reduced to slits and her mouth was curled into a rabid-dog-like snarl. "How could you? I trusted you!"

"Hannah, stop making it sound like a soap opera!" said Gabe, not moving. He squinted up and her and lazily flicked his hair out of his eyes. "We were over, Hannah. You need to understand that."

"Over? We were never over, Gabriel!" She suddenly turned to me, her glare icy. "And you! You little brat! First stealing my position and then my guy! Where did you come from, anyway? How'd you get into Clearwater?" She took a step forward, her Jimmy Choo flip flop on the hem of the picnic blanket.

"Hannah, do me a favor and take a deep breath --"

"Shut up! You're just a geek in popular kid's clothing! You're nothing!" I literally thought she was going to spit in my face. She was making this so dramatic, and I wondered if it was ironic that Leah had been watching _General Hospital_ before I left the apartment.

"Hannah, listen to me," I said, standing up. "I didn't steal your position and I definitely did not steal Gabriel from you. I don't know what the hell Madison's been telling you, but I am not what you think I am." I took a deep breath and glanced down at Gabriel, who still hadn't gotten up. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going home."

"Wait, hang on, Lila," called Gabriel, standing up. "Can we work this out?"

"I don't have a problem with you," I called over my shoulder, "but it's Hannah who has a problem. She can talk to me when I'm ready, and I'm definitely not ready now." I bent my head and headed back to the apartment, boiling on the inside and cool on the outside. I wasn't in the mood for a cat fight, if you're wondering.

A taxi honked at me as I J-Walked the corner, and I just hurried across the street and went into the lobby of the building.

Along the way to the elevators, I passed Linus. He looked like he was on his way out somewhere, maybe to find me and drag me back up to the apartment for some rethinking. When I passed him, he turned around and looked at me like I had fourteen heads.

"What's wrong with you?" He followed me up the stairs to the elevator bank. His hands were in his pockets and he honestly looked like he wanted to listen to some sixteen-year-old's boyfriend/popular girl trouble. "Anything I could help with?"

"Not unless you have a degree in child psychology." I pressed the up button and waited impatiently for the elevator to come down. "Or you have a strange sense for sixteen year old girl problems."

"I was sixteen once," he said, like it was a random fact he found out in the newspaper fillers or something. "But I wasn't a girl." Now he was getting uncomfortable. He was shifting around and putting his hands inside and outside of his pockets, chewing on his spearmint gum like he was going to break his teeth.

"Relax, Linus, I'm not gonna put a load on you," I said, glancing at him reassuringly.

He calmed down a lot after that.

We rode up the elevator in silence, him blowing bubbles with his chewing gum and popping them inside his mouth. I just leaned against the wall and watched the numbers on the elevator's screen flick past.

He and I got off on the right floor and walked down the hallway, passing our neighbors. We didn't bother to say hello because the woman had a really mean Chihuahua that had a liking for my fingers.

"You're home early," said Leah curiously when I opened the door and let Linus in ahead of me. "Did something go wrong?" She was still in her soap opera mode, with the popcorn bowl sitting comfortably in her lap and her pajama top a little lopsided.

"Later," I mouthed over my shoulder, going into our room and closing the door.

Not even two seconds after I closed the door, someone knocked on it. "Lily? Could you come out here for a second?"

Rusty.

I opened the door and glared up at him. "Yeah?"

He shoved something in a dry cleaners' bag into my hands and then went off rambling about going to the Oasis to get some recon work done. "Put that on, do your…girl thing and meet Linus, me and Leah down in the lobby by four." He turned and started to walk away.

"Why is Leah going?" I asked. Sorry, I was on temporary-dumb-teenager mode.

"It's recon work. Everyone should be going, but we're too big of a group and we can't split up because you're _minors_."

"Exactly, and I'm not twenty-one, so why am I going?" I shifted the dry cleaners bag in my arms and noticed something shiny and purple.

Uh oh.

"You'll look twenty-one. I've set Madison on making sure of that." He retreated into his room and slammed the door, like I had suddenly turned into a cranky wife.

I went into my room and first examined the dry cleaners bag. I had a very bad feeling about this bag right here and I wondered if someone in the universe (most likely Rusty) was having a sick laugh at my expense (again, most likely Rusty.) I laid the bag on my bed and took off the plastic covering. It was a dress. Not only a dress, but a dress for a woman much older than I am, which probably added to the whole twenty-one thing.

It was purple and the chest line was sparkly silver sequins. It reminded me sharply of Eva Green's dress in _Casino Royale_, and I wondered vaguely if this was an exact replica, except for the fact that it didn't have that plunging, almost embarrassing chest line that showed off the wearer's cleavage. At the bottom it was mostly silk and I felt as though I was going to a prom rather than a casino.

"Lily?" Leah opened the door and quietly came in, padding in her sock feet. "Do you like the dress? I got a black one that's just like it." She came over and ran her hand down the dress, smiling a little.

"I guess I like it," I said, shrugging. "But I'm personally going to kill Rusty for making me wear this." I scowled and went to go find Madison, who was going to be my makeup artist for the day.

She sat me down in a chair in the bathroom and made me look at myself in the mirror. "You've got a great complexion," she said, acting like a professional. She took out a little plastic baggy full of makeup supplies, mostly eye shadow, eye liner, mascara, lipstick, blush, lip liner -- shall I go on? "But you should bronze it. Just a little bit."

She started with the eyes. She gave me a dark purple eye shadow and applied it carefully. She did the eye liner on both the top and bottom, then gave me the mascara to put on myself (I had a nasty encounter with one of the girls at the orphanage -- let's just say she made me go around wearing an eye patch for a week.) Then she did the blush, and then the lipstick and gloss, and then did my hair in a messy ponytail with bangs in the front (who knew I had bangs?)

She told me to get into my dress and to take her black stilettos from the closet, that they'd serve me well, but they had to be back in the closet by morning or she'll hunt me down and gorge my eyes out with the heel. (She didn't actually say that, but I figured she would.)

I changed into my dress, got the stupid stilettos from the closet and put them on. They were the most painful shoes in the _world_. I looked at myself in the mirror and decided suddenly that I looked good.

It was only three o'clock, so I decided to hang around for a little while. I got my iPod and started listening to the James Bond theme song. More irony!

Leah came out all dolled up and ready to go. She grinned at me and we shared head phones on the way down to the lobby.

When we got down there…oh my god. It was like witnessing James Bond all over again. And we were just going to a freakin' casino. It wasn't like it was all that important to dress up, but there they were in all their glory, standing there in tuxedos and cummerbunds and all that jazz.

I think I was actually swooning a little.

Leah's grip tightened on my arm when she saw the two of them, standing there near the lobby doors like the two womanizers they were. (Not Linus too much, but he was up there with Mr. Ryan, trust me.)

"Well, don't you two look ready to take on the world," I said, trying hard not to sound to sarcastic. I didn't want to ruin the James Bond-y moment. "Where're your silencers, Misters Bond?"

"Very funny, Lily," said Rusty with an eye roll, but he actually looked a little proud of himself when he offered me his arm and I took it grudgingly. "We're dressed for success."

We took a cab for Times Square (**A/N: **I just thought of Cash Cab, lol) and didn't talk along the way. Rusty confiscated my iPod because he thought I would actually listen to it at the casino, oh the drama!

"Rusty," I said, "do you really not trust me?"

"No," he said, putting my iPod safely in his jacket pocket, "I honestly don't. This is serious, okay?" He lowered his voice and said, "Please just do what you have to do."

"Okay," I said, actually agreeing to him this time. I laughed a little at the surprised expression on his face when I said okay.

We talked very little on the way over there, because we all knew what we were going to do. It was a serious job, a very serious job, and I had to hold my tongue if I was going to get out of it alive. This was messing with the logic of many things, like order. When we cut power, things are going to drop into chaos.

The taxi cab pulled up in front of the Oasis. It was a tall, shiny building (yes, I know, that was a third grader's description) with plate glass windows dyed blue. People were mingling outside and in the foyer, all in fancy dress and sipping small, dainty glasses of champagne and talking quietly with one another.

Rusty paid the cab driver and hustled us all out, stepping out onto the curb with the air of someone who knew exactly what he was doing. He walked directly into the crowd, us following closely behind, and led us into the foyer of the casino, which was much louder than the small group of people outside.

"It's gonna get a little crowded," he said. He looked a little unsure of what to say here, mostly because he probably worked with guys who understood this without having it said. But since it's me and Leah, he has to go step by step. "So here." He handed me, Linus and Leah those small, silver Mike & Ike looking things that Linus and I had used back in Florida. "They're on."

I put mine in my ear and heard Rusty's breathing, because he was the only other one who had put his on. He was holding his Mike & Ike close to his chest, which made his breathing audible.

And then I lost it because Linus and Leah put their mikes in.

Then we separated. I wandered close to the poker tables, contemplating whether or not to sit down and start playing. But then I remembered that I was here on business, not pleasure, and that I had no money to stake myself in the game anyway. What a downer this night has become, huh? I livened up a little bit and strayed close to the stage, where a crooner was warbling some sad song about a woman he'd lost when he was young.

"Lily?" That was Rusty. "Are you doing what I asked you to do?"

"You didn't ask me to do anything," I said, cupping my chin in my hand. "But yes, I am. I'm looking for potential escape routes, people to look out for, et cetera."

I thought I heard him breathe a sigh of relief. "Okay, thanks for actually cooperating." He went on talking to either Linus or Leah -- I couldn't tell -- and I continued to look for the things I checked off with Rusty.

There was a door at the far end of the theater. Next to the door handle was a slot that you would normally see on an ATM machine. It blinked a few times with green dots, and then went dark. Then it blinked again, several times, and then stopped again. I guessed that this was where the guards put their passes to get into the "backstage" of the casino. In fact, a heavyset guard in a tan shirt and uniform pants came up to the door, slid his card in and paused, waiting for something. A beep, almost inaudible, could be heard through the crooner's singing, and the guard opened the door wide and let a stream of florescent light come through and giving me a peek at the taupe walls. He then went in and shut the door quietly behind him.

"Got an access route," I said to Rusty, interrupting him in a conversation. He paused, and I guessed he started moving, because snippets of conversations could be heard through the mike.

"You do?" he asked.

"You doubt me?" I said, sounding a touch hurt.

Minutes later, he arrived at my side and sat down easily, like a big, blond panther. He searched for a waiter, waved him over and called for a brandy on the rocks. "Congrats," he said, folding his hands and looking at me without a smirk on his face. "You've taken one step closer to being a world-class thief."

"It's such an honor," I said sarcastically, sitting back in my chair. There was a candle on the table between me and him; I pulled it closer to me and started twirling it, ignoring the dull burning feeling from the warm glass.

There was a pause. He got his brandy, the waiter bringing it over and a silver colored platter and placing a cloth napkin next to Rusty's hand. Rusty thanked him with a nod of his head and sent him away. I was very, very, _very_ tempted to say something sarcastic about the silver platter, but I stopped myself because the crooner actually started singing "Here Comes The Sun," by the Beatles, and I literally felt my cheeks heat up and a burning to start at the back of my eyelids.

You see, the song was very special to me. I know that sounds weird coming from me, the sarcastic, who-cares-what-anyone-says Lily Carson. But when I was little, my daddy and I used to dance in my living room to this. And believe it or not, it was one of the best times of my life and I could hardly remember it. All I could remember was my mother's laughter when my daddy used to pick me up and twirl me around to this song, and the swooping feeling I got when he put me down and started dancing with me.

I couldn't remember their faces.

"You okay?" His voice startled me. I looked up, noticing that my hands were trembling. Our eyes met and I felt okay for a minute.

"Um, yeah. I am." I took a deep breath and tried to ignore the sound of the drums when the song entered it's second to last chorus. "Yeah." God, what a baby. I got over my parents' deaths, believe me. It was just a crazy, emotionally-taut day and I was just feeling a little overwhelmed.

"Well, when you say you're okay, and then you're not actually okay, that's consider lying," he said, sipping his drink. He sighed and put the glass down, scrutinizing me again. I hated it when he did that!

"Linus said that you lie all the time in this business," I said, all traces of my emotions gone. I chewed on my bottom lip and took another deep breath.

"Yeah, but right now's not the time to be worrying about lying," he said, his voice incredibly soft for a guy who liked to be sarcastic and loud and immature. Man, he could be backwards sometimes! I shook my head at him and he smiled a little, showing his dimples. I didn't know he had dimples. "Are you okay or not?"

"Yes, I am," I said, more confidence in my voice now than before. "Aren't you supposed to be being the big bad casino robber right now, Dr. Phil?"

All traces of his smile disappeared and he smirked. "A second ago I was helping out a friend of mine who seemed to be unhappy," he said, his sarcasm returning just as mine had. "But now that friend seems to be back to her normal self, so I will go back to being the big bad robber who's going to blow the Oasis down."

"Hey, you're not the only one doing this," I said, watching him unfold himself from his chair and stretch like that big panther cat I thought he looked like. "Remember there are eight of us going along with you."

"Yeah and the only one who'd be going to jail is me this time," he said, a little under his breath.

"Huh?"

He looked startled and then recovered, rolling his eyes. "Just do me a favor and just keep doing what you've been doing," he said, turning on his heel and leaving me along at that table with nothing but his empty brandy glass and the flickering candle.

**Rusty's POV**

I have never known a woman or a girl who has ever made me feel so stupid in my entire life except for one Lily Carson. She has a way of looking you in the eye, telling you something about the way you dress, eat, sleep, talk, laugh, smile, whatever, and making you feel like the biggest, most complete idiot in the entire world. But she did it with a smile and sometimes a laugh, and that made everything you felt about being offended/insulted/feeling incredibly stupid disappear in the blink of an eye and you're back to being friends again.

When I left that table, with her sitting there all alone with the candlelight flickering on her face and making her look like a sad angel who's been kicked to many times in the gut, it made me feel like that idiot mentioned above.

And I have no idea _why_.

Now, if Danny were around, I wouldn't be doing anything like this at all. It's like, without him, I'm a totally different person. Well, not exactly, but I'm still different.

Like sitting there, asking if Lily was okay after she looked like she was about to bawl her brains out. If Danny were here, I never would've sat down at the table in the first place. Now, without Daniel Ocean to keep me in check and make sure I had that witty, tough guy façade up, I felt like a totally different person.

I walked through the casino with my shoulders back, my head high, feeling that surge of overconfidence I always felt when I walked through a casino that I knew was gonna be robbed by either me or someone else. The poker tables were loud and rowdy, and I was an inch away from joining. The blackjack, the roulette, the rummy were all equally loud and rowdy, but I had no intentions of joining any of them.

So I sat down at a slot machine. "O magic slot machine," I muttered, taking out a chip I had found on the floor, "let luck be a lady tonight." The song ran through my head when I slipped the chip into the slot and pulled the handle, watching nonchalantly as each of the rollers changed and came up with zip.

"Rusty." That was Linus, trying to be that pestering, busy little bee that always seemed to buzz around my ear. "Toulour's here."

Honestly, I wasn't surprised. That guy was like a stalker or something. "What?" I said, getting up. I surveyed the casino and saw Linus up on the balcony above me. "Again, Linus."

"Toulour is here."

This guy, Francois Toulour? He's like a stalker. But he's a sent stalker, to stalk me and Danny whenever we're trying to pull a job. Normally we would have picked him out by now, but since this wasn't the heist, number one, and number two, it was just Linus who was looking out for him, we couldn't have picked him out as quick as we should've.

"Girls," I said, getting Lily's and Leah's attention. "Time to go."

"Already?" said Leah, sounding disappointed. I didn't say anything and started towards the entrance, keeping a look out for Toulour.

"Why are we in such a rush?" Lily was moving, I could tell, but she didn't want to move. "Who is this Toulour person and why are we running away from him?"

"We're not 'running away'," I said, walking past the poker tables and the roulette wheels. "We're just retreating for now."

"What Rusty's trying to say --"

"Linus!" snapped Lily. Wow, she could get mean. "I'm trying to listen!"

And she was. I found her underneath the balcony, (wow she got there fast) and listening to Toulour's conversation with two giggling model-waitresses that have become the fashion statement of the year.

Seeing me out of the corner of her eye, she got up and made her way over, not even glancing over her shoulder at Toulour. She frowned and then looked up at the balcony, where Linus was oh-so-nonchalantly leaning against the glass wall, waiting for the signal to come down.

"You can come down here, you know," she said, obviously to Linus and not to me.

He nodded and then headed for the staircase.

"Where are you?" she snapped into her mike. "Let's go. I don't care, Leah, c'mon."

"Who died and made you boss?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at her. "C'mon, we gotta get away from Toulour.

"Why?" she asked again, a certain innocence to her voice that reminded me of my third-grade days when I stole that bully's PB&J sandwich.

Good times.

"Because," I said, pushing my way through the crowd and snatching Leah from the crowd in the process. "We have too. I'll explain later."

Linus was waiting at the door for us and we all burst out onto the street, searching for an empty cab. I knew to flag one and not to accept any of those on the street, because they could be planted…I went to the curb and flagged down a cab, herding all of them into the backseat and told the cabbie to go for Central Park West -- we'll walk the rest of the way.

"So," said Lily, breaking the silence. "Care to explain now?"

I scowled and rubbed my hand over my face. I got what I needed, though -- access routes, guard stations, camera locations, all of that. But now I have to explain to Lily why the hell we got out of there so fast.

"On past jobs, this guy Toulour figures he could follow us and ultimately make fools of ourselves. He's failed many times, but since this is the one time where I don't have Danny, he thinks he's gonna get it this time." I took a breath and glanced at Linus for support.

Who knew I would be glancing at people (especially _Linus_) for support?

"Uh," said Linus. Gee, _that_ was helpful. "Um, yeah."

I was just glad we were heading home with all of our fingers, toes and fingernails, because who knew what Toulour would've done.

**Lily's POV, The Next Morning**

_Yo, I'll tell you what I want, what I really, really want_

_So tell me what you want, what you really, really want_

_I'll tell you what I want, what I really, really want --_

I reached over and slammed the Snooze button so hard I was pretty sure I cracked the outside of my alarm clock. I yawned, stretched, and untangled myself from my sheets. I had the worst headache I have ever had in my lifetime, and I figured it was a case of "casino-hangover".

I shuffled into the kitchen and yawned again, smelling bacon and toast through my daze.

"The dead lives!" crowed Adam, clattering plates around on the counter.

I opened my eyes the best I could and looked down at the plate he was fooling around with. On it was two strips of charred something that looked strangely like bacon and blackened pieces of toast. "What'd you do to these things?" I asked sleepily, snatching a piece of toast and shuffled into the living room, flopping on the couch and landing on someone I didn't notice in my sleepiness.

"Hey!"

Oh, god, I landed on Rusty. I got up and took a bite of my toast, looking at him through the strands of hair that had fallen in front of my face. "Sorry," I said, swallowing. "Didn't see you there."

"Mhmm-hmm," he said, going back to reading…blueprints. Again.

I finished my toast and went back into my bedroom to sleep a little more. I took a peek at the clock and realized that it read seven o'clock, and that I still had three hours left to sleep.

Yippee.

* * *

**Author's Note: **I'm sorry for the hold up! I lost my muse for Ocean's and things have been really, really, really busy. The beginning of this chapter was slightly rocky, because it's not…exciting, I guess, but it gets better towards the middle. Please, review! Also, I have another question for you guys, but you have to promise that you will REVIEW ON THE CHAPTER AND NOT JUST ANSWER MY QUESTION. (Sorry for the caps.) The question is:

Should I write a sequel to this?

No ideas at the moment, just if I should. I have an idea for the sequel, but I'm not telling you! (smug smile) Again, thank you for reading, skimming, reviewing, whatever. Thanks! ;-)


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I do not own the Ocean's series. (To those who do: you lucky, lucky people.)

Summary: SURPRISE!

A/N: I thank you for the constructive criticism, it is appreciated! Thanks goes out to oceansand588 for giving me the idea of drabbles (because I read them all the time and yet I don't think to write them…) Thanks again! I hope this chapter will be a bit more…better. ;-)

**Lily's POV**

I made a total mess of things. Yes, I know, I admit it. On Sunday afternoon I kept calling and texting and leaving messages on Gabe's phone, and have yet to receive an answer. It's been driving me nuts and I still haven't gotten a reply -- and it's Monday morning. It doesn't get any more cliché than this -- girl and boy have "fight", girl tries to talk to boy or vice versa, and still don't get an answer. Girl/boy then bursts into spontaneous tears.

I haven't started crying yet, so don't worry. I probably won't.

The halls of the ever-famous-and-prestigious Clearwater Academy were crowded and noisy, with students talking at the highest volume possible (they were shouting in each other's faces…) and they were slamming their locker doors shut so hard I thought they were going to cause an earthquake. People stepped in front of me and nearly knocked me over. God, these rich snobs were obnoxious.

I reached my locker without getting turned into road kill and twirled the lock absentmindedly. I was still thinking about Gabe and how I'd messed up big time. How was I going to fix this? I don't usually walk away from my fights, but then again, things have changed. I won't get all deep on you. I yanked open my locker door and found a daisy, wedged between my algebra text and my social studies folder.

I couldn't help it -- I smiled and even chuckled, despite my cloudy mood, and reached in and took the daisy out. Attached to it, at the end, was a note, that read in Gabe's sloppy block letters: Did we ever fight? Doubt it. Meet me outside the locker rooms after Geometry. ;-)

"Someone leave you a love letter?" Leah startled me, and I whirled around to face her, the daisy still in my hand. She smiled and gestured to the daisy. "Someone's got a secret admirer!" she sang.

"Nah," I said, shaking my head and replacing the daisy. "Just a really good friend." I got the books I needed and shoved them into my bag, then closed my locker door and practically skipped down the emptying hallways.

"A really, really good friend?" Leah could be a real hard case sometimes, but I knew she was just fooling around.

"Nope," I said. I stopped at my next class and waved goodbye. "See you later."

"Peace out," she said, holding up a lopsided peace sign. She turned on her heel and headed down the hallway towards Advanced Chemistry.

Chemistry. Hmmm.

I sat through Social Studies tapping my foot and my pencil and basically not paying any attention. I was too wrapped around the heist that would take place in one week, three days, sixteen hours, thirteen minutes and sixty-eight seconds, and the fact that maybe Gabe was going to start talking to me again. Maybe this whole thing wouldn't be to bad after all. I've got something of a family back at the apartment. I've got friends here at school (Gabe and Leah and Adam when I see him). I've got food to eat, clothes to wear, an elaborate school to attend. Life was good.

"Miss Carson, care to explain the fourth amendment?"

I sat bolt upright in my chair and hastily explained the Search and Seizure Act (aka the fourth amendment) and then relaxed again. Okay, so maybe not paying attention wasn't so good of an idea.

Nothing especially exciting happened during Geometry nor any of my other subjects in between then. It was after geometry something exciting happened.

The gym smelled funnily like sweat and dirty socks, and normally I would enjoy this smell…yes, I know, a bit random and kind of disgusting. But that's who I am -- I like the smell of sweat. I could feel my nerves zing when I saw Gabriel standing near the boy's locker room, leaning casually against the pushed back bleachers with his hands in his pockets and his book bag slung over his shoulder.

I felt my pace speed up, and I was practically running across the gym. Yes! He was here!

"Hey," he said quietly, though loud enough so I could hear him over the shouting in the locker room. "Sorry I didn't call you back. I dropped my phone in my aunt's pool over the weekend, and I didn't get a new one yet." He bit his lip and looked down at his Reeboks, almost nervously.

"Yeah, um," I said, fiddling with my bag's strap. "Sorry about the other day. I could've totally fought my own fight but --"

Fact is, I was interrupted by his lips. No kidding, truth all. And yes, this is the part where you can say "Aww," but I'm pretty sure you won't because you're normal people.

Well, I kissed him back. What else was I supposed to do? His arms went slowly around my waist, and I followed en suite by putting my arms 'round his neck.

I waited for the fireworks, the heaven's choir singing in my ears, the tingles that were supposed to be shooting up and down my spine. There was nothing. Nothing at all. Just the feeling of his hands gently supporting my lower back, and his mouth on mine. That's just about it. Nothing special, no angels and no brightly colored flashes underneath my eyelids. Nothing.

Great. My first kiss, and nothing happens. Someone, somewhere was having a sick laugh at my expense. Right then I wanted to break away and shake my fist at the sky, because I knew God was planning against me. (Insert evil laugh from ceiling here.)

We broke apart, breathing a little heavily. I grinned in spite of myself, even though nothing happened. It was my first kiss, and I had to hand it to him -- he was an awesome kisser.

Not that I could say anything, though. I've never kissed someone else, so I don't know.

He grinned back at me, letting me go. He blushed a little, realizing that we'd just kissed in front of the entire gym…which was now fairly staring at us in complete surprise. He chewed on his bottom lip again, and then said, "So, um…"

"Pick me up at five thirty…Sunday?" I giggled a little girlishly (yes, I know,) because I knew that's what he was about to say.

He nodded and then pulled me into a hug, which I returned a little timidly.

Crap. Didn't Rusty warn us about relationships?

No. That was Madison.

"Madison, I would suggest that not having a relationship would be better." Rusty folded his arms and perched on the edge of the couch's arm. "After the heist, we're going our separate ways and Mark --"

"Jason," she interrupted, correcting him.

"Jason, whatever, will be asking questions if you just up and leave. It'll be difficult." His eyes trailed to me, who was hiding behind the kitchen door with Adam and Leah, listening in on their conversation. I was peeking through the crack, and a little bit to much of my face was able to be seen.

"But I live in Manhattan," said Madison, jutting out her hip and pouting like the typical, spoiled rotten American teenager. "I can always transfer to another school and just visit him, you know?"

Rusty sighed and shook his head, and I knew he was thinking the same thing I was: This girl is impossible. "Look, Madison, it doesn't matter. There's always a chance that someone will recognize you and haul you in for robbery. And if they get you, they get the rest of us. Capisci?"

Madison scowled and marched from the room, which made her look a lot like a five-year-old having a hissy fit. Ten seconds later, the door slammed down the hall.

"Leah!" I ran down the hallway, distracting her from chattering with her chem lab buddies. "Leah! I need to talk to you!" I grabbed her arm and pulled her into the girls' bathroom, checking the stalls to see if anyone was in there. "God, you'll never guess what just happened…"

"First of all," she said, raising an eyebrow, "I am not God."

"You're picking up things from Rusty," I said, rolling my eyes. "Leah, you'll never guess what just happened…"

"Gabe kissed you?"

I stared at her, dumbstruck. Whoa, things travel fast. "How'd you know that?" I said, this time raising my eyebrow. I folded my arms, more out of anxiety than anything else. There was no doubt that by the time I see Madison, I'll be dead and six-feet-under before I have dinner.

Boy, my future looks grim.

"I know people who know people who know things," she said, leaning against the sink. "Besides, it was bound to happen. You guys wouldn't stop staring at each other in English class before your fight --"

"We didn't fight," I said defensively. "We had a little…bump in the road."

"Same diff," she said, with a wave of her hand. She was Leah, the perfectionist who thought everything had to go her way. But she wasn't spoiled, only a little bossy. "Lily, you two were going to happen eventually. If I were psychic, I would've predicted this months ago. Now, I've got to get to class or I'm going to be dead. 'Bye!" And with that, she left me standing in the bathroom.

I walked listlessly down the hallway, like I was dead. Or going to die. I had a feeling that Madison and her cronies were going to pounce on me any minute now -- like they would burst out of a locker or something and maul me with designer clothes and force me to hurl up my food. At this I chuckled (yes, I laugh at myself) and felt my mood brighten a little. I entered the cafeteria, because I had lunch/free period and realized that everyone was staring at me.

And when I say everyone, I mean everyone.

The first person to acknowledge the fact I wasn't an exhibit at the zoo was Adam, who came up to me and poked me in the shoulder. "Um, yeah, everyone knows that you and Gabe made out in front of the locker room last period," he whispered.

I glared at him. "I didn't make out with him, Adam," I muttered, "it was just a simple kiss. You people exaggerate. A lot." I scowled and headed for my regular table, which was with Leah and her friends, but obviously she was busy today. I didn't bother to get up and get lunch -- I wasn't that hungry. Besides, who wanted to eat cafeteria lunch? It was Mystery Meat Monday -- I figure you get the picture.

Adam slid into the seat beside me and made a face down at the goop they call lunch. "Ew," he muttered, poking it with his fork. "This looks…disgusting." He stuck out his tongue at it, and pushed it away, wincing.

"It looks like it'll crawl off the plate," I said. I had nothing special to do. I finished all of my homework for the night in study hall. I cupped my chin in my hand and stared at the Goth table, watching them comment on each other's earrings and cropped hair.

"Hey, you. Captain."

I felt my stomach sink down to a place around my ankles and I turned to see Madison, along with Hannah and most of her cronies. I sighed and remained seated, not bothering to actually encourage a fight. "Hello, Hannah & Co."

Hannah scowled and pushed her way to the front. "You little whore. Thanks a lot, slut." She spat the words nastily at me, her hands on her hips and her eyes burning with hatred. She jutted out her hip and sneered at me, a malicious yet gleeful glint in her eyes. "How many boys are you sleeping with, Captain?"

Okay. Forget about the encouraging the fight thing. I stood up, my fists clenched. "Look who's talking, Hannah," I said, my voice low enough that it could've been considered a whisper. "Wish you could see yourself. Does the tanning booth hurt?" I chuckled at her shocked face, but sobered when she puckered her lips at me and moved her head around in a circle.

Yeah. Like that scared me.

"Whore," she said again. "Slut." She said it like a baby learning her ABC's. She dragged out each syllable, thinking that that would annoy me. She grinned and slapped five with one of her cohorts, turning her big, Bambi eyes back on me.

"Lily," said Adam quietly behind me, coming up and putting his hand on my shoulder. "Just drop it."

"Oooh." She grinned maliciously at me. "Are you sleeping with him, too?"

"Takes a slut to know a slut, Hannah," I said coolly, smirking a little at her expression. I felt slightly invincible right then. "How many boys are you sleeping with? Jayden Reyes said he had an awesome night on Friday. Did you have anything to do with it?"

She scowled at me and looked like she wanted to slap me. "I had nothing to do with that freak," she hissed. She was obviously talking about Jayden Reyes. "Jayden Reyes is just a nobody."

"Oh yeah?" I reached behind me and took Adam's milk. "Hope you like milk." I poured the milk all over the top of her head, watching her eyes widen and her mouth grow into a big "O." She screamed and looked down at her now-soaked uniform and her ruined hair.

"You --" She proceeded to call me every obscene name under the sun.

"Carson! Rodriguez!" Dean Edwards came marching up to us, her frizzy blond hair sticking out in every direction. She waggled a finger at the both of us and said, "In my office. Now."

The walls of Dean Edwards's office are a pale pink, but that doesn't take away the severity of the woman who occupied it. The desk was a deep mahogany and the top was littered with neat piles of paper and paperweights and pens. A vase with two roses in it took up one corner. The bulletin boards had pictures of star students and the other deans tacked up. I swear to God if I ever got out of here alive, I was going to have a new respect for deans everywhere.

"Carson, explain this to me." Dean Edwards sat down behind her desk and folded her hands. "You're a brand new, star student who just so happens to be the captain of the basketball team. You've never been in my office before. Just after the first week of December, you start causing problems. What's going on?"

I shrugged. There wasn't anything going on. "Nothing."

"There's nothing happening in your home? No family problems?"

Well, I thought. We're planning on robbing Hannah's dad's casino in a week and a half. I didn't say that, though. Rusty would kill me, I would come back to life, and he would kill me again if I said that. "Nothing at all, Dean Edwards."

She shook her head and turned to Hannah, who was still sopping wet with milk. She was starting to smell, too.

"So, Hannah…"

Oh, sure. Call her by her first name.

"…Is there anything going on at home that provoked this?"

Hannah's face broke into an emotional mirror. She went from sad to angry to happy to envious to angry and sad again. When she finally settled on something to act on, thirty seconds had passed. "Well, there's nothing at home that's going on. But Lily here," she sent me a slow gaze that was full of loathing, "she's dating my boyfriend behind my back."

I raised my eyebrow. "You broke up with him, Hannah," I said sharply.

"Carson!" snapped Dean Edwards. "Hold your tongue."

Whoa. Way to get old-fashioned.

"But Gabriel said that we had something special," continued Hannah, a slow, self-confident smirk spreading across her face. "Something that cannot be denied even though we faced so many trials as boyfriend and girlfriend." She gave a dramatic sigh. "But I guess he was lead astray."

I frowned and felt anger bubble up inside me. "Hang on," I said, shaking my head. "That's a lie --"

"Carson," said Dean Edwards, stopping me in my tracks. She pulled out a pink slip and started scribbling on it. "A week of detention. You're also banned from the basketball team for two weeks and you've lost your position as captain. A democratic vote will take place in your absence to replace you." She folded the paper and handed it to me. "And if you step out of line again, the ban will be extended."

"Where's the justice in this?" I said, staring down at the pink slip of paper. I was so angry right now. "I didn't do anything to her except pour milk on her. It's not like --"

"That's exactly it, Miss Carson." The dean gave me a super-sweet smile. "You've poured milk on her and provoked a fight. There you go. Now leave."

**At The Apartment**

I slammed the door behind me angrily and tossed my book bag into a corner. "Leah? Adam? Linus?" I shouted, kicking off my shoes. I walked into the living room and stopped short at the doorway.

Daniel Ocean was sitting in my living room, all casual-like. He was perched on the left armrest of the leather couch in a dark, gray and black suit and tie. He was silvering, not graying, and I had a feeling that he was waiting for someone, who namely wasn't me.

"Uh…hi." I walked into the living room and stood awkwardly in front of the television. "Um. Are you waiting for Rusty?"

"There's no need to be nervous, Lily." He shifted a little and smiled. "Yes, I'm waiting for Rusty. Do you have any idea where he might be?"

Just then my cell phone rang. I scowled and reached into my pocket for it. "Hello?" I said, mouthing an "excuse me" after.

"Lily?" It was Rusty. Man of the hour. "Is this thing true?"

"What's true?" I said.

"That you got a pink slip from the dean. We're not supposed to call attention to ourselves, remember?"

Uh-oh. "Who told you?"

"The dean called me on my cell. You're in trouble for --"

"Pouring milk on Hannah Rodriguez, yeah, I know, I was there," I said. I rolled my eyes a little. "Anyway, it was nothing, I'm banned from the basketball team…"

Rusty sighed audibly. "Great. Is Danny there?"

I handed Danny the phone without saying anything.

He took it from me and started talking in low tones with Rusty.

I retreated to my room to contemplate the fact that I would have nothing to do for two weeks. I was free in the afternoons now and I could come home and help with the blueprints…great. Rusty would tie me to a chair and force me to recite the plan over and over and over again. Like I said before, my future looked grim. It still does.

I sat down on my bed and stared a the hot pink ceiling. Not entertaining. I sighed and jumped up and down on my bed. A little better.

Nothing especially exciting happened in between then and when Rusty got home. Leah came bursting through my bedroom door and told me that Hannah had officially been elected as captain. That was the only thing…and that Rusty angrily lectured me (in front a smirking Danny Ocean,) that I was an "irresponsible teenager that needed a good thrashing."

"Did you memorize that?" I asked. I couldn't help but say that. It was just so tempting.

He grunted. "Maybe." He turned back to Danny and they returned to the living room, leaving me to brood.

Brood. Yeah.

I did my homework (without help from anyone!) and flopped down on the couch to watch Hannah Montana with Leah and Adam.

"Is there anything else on?" moaned Adam, scowling at the television as Miley Cyrus went skipping around the obviously-fake set. "Leah, we're not eleven year old girls. Change it before I kill you."

"Someone's gotten up on the wrong side of the bed," I said. I pulled the remote gently from the crack in the cushions without Leah noticing and changed the channel.

"Hey!" she exclaimed. She looked at me sadly. "They were gonna sing!"

"Who was gonna sing, Leah?" said Adam, clearly happier now. He wriggled and sat up, pulling his feet onto the couch and staring intently at the TV. "The Jonas Brothers?"

Leah scowled and folded her arms. If it wasn't Adam in a bad mood, it was her.

Freaky.

"Who's the immature child now?" I sang, channel-surfing. Paid programming, paid programming, paid programming. Yuck. "Aw, boogers --" Boogers was my new word now, since Rusty banned "damn it" in the house -- "Look who's on. Our favorite secret agent husband-and-wife."

Indeed. Mr. and Mrs. Smith was on, and let me tell you -- it was nice to see Brad Pitt in a good kill-or-be-killed movie.

"Yes!" crowed Adam, punching the air with both fists. "A bloody, gory, non-chick flick man movie!" He shoved his butt further into the cushion and pulled a pillow close to him, wrapping his arms around it.

"It's both, actually," said Leah matter-of-factly. "I hate to rain on your parade…."

"What parade?" he said innocently. "I'm just getting started, babe."

Leah and I rolled our eyes simultaneously.

"Guys," said Rusty from across the room. "This is Danny Ocean." He glanced at the man at his side.

"In the flesh," I said, acting surprised and shocked, even though I'd seen him already.

"Now, Rusty asked me to look over your plan and see if it's good. It's excellent, actually. You've got some potential, all of you, and it'd be nice to see you in the business soon," he said.

I motioned to Rusty that I wanted to talk with him alone. Standing in the kitchen, my arms folded, I said, "How come you told him that it was our plan instead of your plan?"

Rusty just chuckled. And smirked. Boogers. "What -- oh, that. What I'm telling Danny through this is that "hey, I made it up, but give these guys credit,' get it?"

Rusty Ryan was just an annoying, overgrown child who had an undeveloped sense of right and wrong. But that, apparently, was the thing everybody loved about him, so I guess I have to accept it.

Blueprints, here I come!

**A/N:** Go ahead, say it, it sucked. It took me forever to write this and I have no idea why. I'm sorry for the wait…go ahead, hit me with tomatoes and such. I personally liked the beginning with Leah "I'm not God…" and I think that was the best line in the entire chapter. Again, sorry for the wait. I feel horrible right now. :-(


End file.
